A Favor
by Yaoi Addicts Anonymous
Summary: What's a boy to do when he promises to bring a hot date home but can't actually deliver? Why, 'nicely' convince his best friend to do him a favor of course! But it's not as easy as they thought it would be to pretend, nor is it all fun and games. NaruSasu
1. The Favor

Hello all! I've been rolling this idea around in my head for quite a while and I have this first chapter and little bits and pieces here and there written. I guess if anyone else is actually interested in reading it, I'll actually legitimately work on it instead of being the lazy procrastinator that I am, but we'll see!

Just as a quick note: if you're looking for a story where Naruto and Sasuke get together right away, this is not the story for you! I like to build things up first. There will be little bits here and there, but it's just teasing mostly. A straight guy does not just randomly turn gay in five minutes and be totally okay with it! That's one of my pet peeves, so yeahhh!

Another note: The first few chapters of this are just silly and fun, but it will have some depth in the future so don't let that turn you off!

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue. We just use them for our mind's eye's viewing pleasure, and what a pleasure it is... _

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><p>"Hey Sasuke!" Naruto yelled from his place on the couch in front of the TV. He waited patiently for a response while munching on the bag of chips in his hand.<p>

When none came, he tried again. "Heyyyyy Sasuke!" Again, no response. "Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke, Saaaassssuuuukkkeee!" When all else fails, flush out pray by pure annoyance. When there was still no response from his brooding roommate, he was forced to leave his heavenly sanctuary of entertainment and go look for him.

Naruto ambled into Sasuke's room (without knocking of course) to find his dark-haired friend at his desk, writing notes with headphones plugged into his ears. He heaved a sigh, tip toed over to him, then proceeded to rip the headphones out of Sasuke's ears and bellow, "HEY SASUKE!"

Unfortunately, instead of the startled response he was hoping for, Sasuke merely looked up at him with one eyebrow raised then turned back to his notes. Naruto huffed and whined, "Saaasuke, I've been calling you forever!"

"Hn. I know," he responded without looking up.

Naruto gaped at him. "You were ignoring me? You bastard! This is important!" When there was no reaction, yet again, from Sasuke, he continued whining. "You are so cruel to me! You don't care at all!"

Silence.

"Fine. Well anyway, I need you to do me a favor, bastard," Naruto proclaimed with a grin.

Sasuke still didn't look at him as he replied shortly, "No."

"But it's just –"

"No."

"Come on, I really –"

"No."

"Just –" When Sasuke opened his mouth (most likely to say that dreaded 'n' word), Naruto clamped a hand on Sasuke's mouth. "Just hear me out!" He received a silent glare in return because Sasuke was an Uchiha, and Uchihas did not make themselves sound stupid my mumbling nonsense against some idiot's hand. Naruto grinned in triumph. "Okay, so I'm going back home here soon for my buddy's birthday. We're throwing him a big party and it's going to be epic!" Naruto started scratching at the back of his head with his free hand, a sign that Sasuke knew to mean that the blond was feeling a little hesitant. "And, I, eh, kinda told everyone that I was going to be bringing a smoking hot date and I kinda don't have one…. So! I need your help!"

Now he was getting an incredulous stare as his roommate shoved his hand off of his mouth. "You want me to get you a date with one of my fangirls? There's no way in hell you can convince me to talk to those creatures."

Naruto quickly jumped in, waving his arms franticly. "No, no! Of course not! I would never throw you to the wolves like that Sasuke, no matter how much of an asshole you are to me! No, I was saying you should come with me!"

There was a slow blink from Sasuke before he turned back to his notes. "No."

"But-but! You're my best friend! And I would feel most comfortable taking you home with me!"

Sasuke stilled for a split second before he replied, "I am not your best friend, stop trying to suck up. Why don't you take Sakura or Ino, or even Sai?"

"One, you are too my best friend! Why the hell else would I have agreed to live with a prick like you? Two, even if I did want to take them instead, which I don't, Sakura would probably punch my lights out, Ino would cruelly mock me then refuse, and Sai is creepy as hell and I definitely wouldn't want him to even pretend to be my date. Can you imagine the stuff he would try to do to me?" he asked with a shudder.

Sasuke silently agreed. He sighed and finally set down his pen. "Moron, you're not even gay, wouldn't that be a problem?"

There was that grin again. "Nope, I'm not. I do, however, happen to be bi! And my friends back home know this."

Another slow blink from Sasuke. "I'm not going. Just tell them that your date finally got a look at your face and ran screaming for the hills," he said with a smirk, unable to resist the childish taunt.

Naruto gave him a glare before breaking into an evil grin that had Sasuke immediately wary. "Well, Sasuke, I didn't want to have to resort to this, but you leave me no choice." That smile widened. "Blackmail!" he howled.

Sasuke scoffed. "Blackmail? What could you possibly have to blackmail me with?"

"Well, I could tell everyone that the almighty Sasuke Uchiha sleeps with a stuffed animal at night. And I've got pictures to prove it!" Naruto crowed.

Sasuke's eyes widened. "What? How did you get that?"

Naruto gaped at him again. "Seriously? You really do? Oh my gosh! I totally just photoshopped it into a picture I have of you sleeping! Holy shit Sasuke!" The next few minutes were filled with Naruto's guffaws until Sasuke punched him hard in the stomach.

Naruto's giggles quickly subsided after that as he tried to catch his breath and not lose his lunch. Damn! He'd forgotten that Sasuke was an expert in several forms of martial arts and could sure pack a punch. Not that he couldn't hold his own too, of course, given the chance. "Jackass," he grunted with a sour glare. "That's not even all I have up my sleeve, you know, so you'd better be nice to me."

Sasuke dreaded hearing what else that blond idiot had to say.

"Remember when I snuck in and took pictures of you right when you got out of the shower just to piss you off at the beginning of this semester?"

Sasuke's Glare of Death told him that yes, he did remember.

"Well, I still have those and I know some fangirls of yours that would pay me big money to get them," Naruto said with a smirk.

Sasuke stiffened and his face paled. "You wouldn't."

"Oh ho! But I would! Unless you decide to help out a friend in need here," Naruto pleaded with big blue eyes.

Naruto received the most intense Uchiha glare that he'd ever received in his life along with a venomous, "I. Hate. You."

Of course, after this glorious news, Naruto whooped and hollered, doing a victory dance around Sasuke's bedroom. He'd done it! He'd made Sasuke give in! "Okay, great! Be ready to go two Fridays from now. I'll let you know what you should pack and stuff later on," he said with a lazy wave of his hand as he shuffled back out of the room.

In a split second, Sasuke was suddenly standing right in front of him, blocking the doorway. His left eyebrow seemed to be twitching. "Eh, Sasuke, I think there's something wrong with your face…"

The twitching just got worse. "Did you just say 'pack'?"

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Duh, are you deaf now, too? And you call me the idiot."

Now a vein seemed to be throbbing at Sasuke's temple. "As in, overnight?"

"Ohhh. Um, yeah, about that…we're going to be there from Friday until Monday evening since it's a three day weekend," Naruto informed him with a nervous laugh.

Sasuke's face suddenly smoothed out before he calmly kicked Naruto's legs out from under him so that he fell on the ground. Hard. He then proceeded to stomp on his chest as he stepped over him to get back to his desk. "Forget it. Do whatever you want, it's not worth it."

Naruto heaved a sigh as he stood up, wincing. "Fine, fine. I'll just have to call your mother and Itachi and tell them how you're being mean and anti-social again."

Sasuke suddenly got a desperate look in his eyes. "Please. Don't," he said, remembering what had happened last time. His mother had been worried that he wasn't living a happy life and she wanted nothing more than for her baby to be happy! So she had deemed it necessary to come visit Sasuke and set him up on date after date, dragging him around with her and stopping people she saw around campus to ask them if they would please befriend her poor son because he didn't know how to make friends. It was downright mortifying. Luckily, after watching Sasuke flounder for a while, Naruto had stepped in and saved him. He had gotten together all of 'their' friends (they were really just Naruto's friends that Sasuke was forced to tolerate) and shown his mother that Sasuke wasn't always a cold, stuck-up bastard.

The downside to Naruto saving him had been that his mother now loved Naruto and thought he was just the most adorable, sweetest thing in the world for taking care of her baby. So if Naruto were to call her, she would for sure make Sasuke go anyway. As embarrassing as she was sometimes, Sasuke was a mama's boy and had a huge soft spot for his mother. And Naruto took advantage of that shamelessly!

As for Itachi, well…Itachi just loved to make his life hell. And he was damn good at it.

"So you'll go? Aw, you're really the best, Sasuke! I knew you'd come through for me!"

"Best friend, my ass," Sasuke muttered furiously. "He must hate me, there's no other explanation."

Naruto gave him a contemplative look before plopping down on Sasuke's bed. "Sasuke, you know I'm not just doing this to give you hell, right?"

Sasuke refused to acknowledge that statement.

"I mean, yeah, that's a great added bonus," he said with a grin. Sasuke just sent him an Uchiha glare once again. "But it's not just that. You're my best friend, I want to take you home with me so everyone can meet you and I can show you my home. Besides, it'll be good for you to get out and live a little! All you do is sit in your gloomy room and study nonstop! Admit it, you always have fun when I drag you out!"

He could have sworn that he saw a light pink tinge on Sasuke's cheeks, but it was gone the next second, if it was ever there to begin with. Sasuke shook his head with a mumbled, "Dumbass," and turned back to his desk.

"Aw, you know I love you man!" Naruto laughed as he grabbed Sasuke in a headlock and ruffled his hair.

"Back off," Sasuke growled warningly.

"Of course, of course. I'll give you more details later when you're not so pissy. Oh, wait, I forget, you're always pissy!" He saw Sasuke's hand clench in a white-knuckled fist. He made placating gestures with his hands and continued. "Haha, anyway, I promise there are no more big surprises. And I promise I won't rape you, I've been able to resist you so far!"

"Yeah," Sasuke said drily, rolling his eyes, "I was really worried about that."

"Alright, I'll leave you alone for a while. Thanks for doing this buddy, I really appreciate it."

"Like I have a choice," Sasuke grumbled. "Just get out Uzumaki."

Naruto waltzed out of the room and shut the door behind him. A few seconds later the door cracked open and a head of spiky blond hair popped in. "Oh, and Sasuke? I, for one, think it's just adorable that you sleep with a stuffed animal." He snickered and ducked out just as a heavy paperweight slammed into the door where his head had been. Ah, what would he do without his best friend?

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><p>Aaaaaand so ends chapter 1! It's kinda short, but anyone think this is worth continuing?<p> 


	2. The Fussiness

Ok, I'm going to apologize in advance for the extended rambling at the beginning of this chapter: Sorry!

First off, I just wanna say that I really really appreciate those who take the time and effort to leave a review, it really means a lot! I always try to reply to my reviewers, to at least tell them thank you, or to answer questions or comments they leave. So, I would like to give a shout out to my anonymous reviewers now and in the future and tell them here since I can't reply to them: Thank you! You guys are awesome and I'm glad you like the story! XD

Anyway, here is chapter two! I'm going to attempt to update once a week after this month (cuz this month is ridiculous busy), but I'm not guaranteeing anything. But, I already have a large chunk of some of the future chapters written, now I just have to get to there. I'm so excited! And just so everyone knows, this story isn't just gonna be a bunch of fluffy, silly fun the whole time. There will actually be depth, conflict, and drama and all that jazz too. But for now, enjoy the simple fun!

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><p>"Sasuke… I know you two don't always get along, but don't you think that was a little harsh?" Sakura asked hesitantly. Her green eyes were wide as she stared in disbelief at their friend's prone body on the ground next to their table outside the cafeteria. Even though they were all grad students by this point, they still occasionally used the university's cafeteria on campus to meet up in the mornings. It was fun watching freshmen as they got lost and struggled through their work for very basic classes, as if that wasn't them just a few years ago.<p>

Sasuke continued to calmly drink his morning coffee as he watched in amusement while a boy nearly pulled his hair out as he attempted calculus I homework. "That idiot doesn't know when to stop talking," he drawled, referring to their unconscious friend.

Ino snorted obnoxiously as she continued her hysterical laughter. She smacked Sasuke hard on the back, making him choke momentarily. "Oh my GAWD Sasuke! I knew there was a reason we kept your stuck up ass around here!" she managed to yell in a rather high-pitched voice as she wiped tears from her eyes.

Sakura tried patting Sasuke gently on the back as he coughed and held his throat, trying to catch a good breath. He swatted her hand away and angrily grabbed Ino's water, pouring some into his mouth. As he finally recovered, he sent an intense glare in Ino's direction. She laughed and waved him off, rolling her eyes.

"Oh please, Sasuke, give it up. We've known you for too long to be phased by that prissy glare." She lowered her voice conspiratorially. "So…is it true, what he said?"

She got a perfectly shaped, arched eyebrow in response. "You really need to ask?"

Her gossip senses tingling, Sakura ditched Naruto's unconscious form to rush to Ino's side. "Well, you wouldn't have reacted so strongly without a reason," she said with a sly, sideways glance.

The girls' eyes widened. "Whaaaat? Is that color I see on the Ice Prince's face?" Ino gasped.

Sasuke scowled. "You must be mistaken," he said stiffly. "I'm just highly annoyed. Naruto has been acting abnormally insufferable all morning."

"Saaasuke, you're using your formal tone and all your big vocabulary words, that means you're getting uncomfortable!" Sakura gushed.

Ino and Sakura screeched as a pair of arms encircled their shoulders and a blond head popped up in between them. "Aw, girls, come on, give the poor bastard a break!" Naruto said with his trademark grin. "He's still getting over the fact that he is now going out with the most attractive man on earth. I know, it would be overwhelming for anyone," he boasted.

There was that tic in Sasuke's left eyebrow again. "Uzumaki, if you value your life, you will shut. Your. Fucking. Mouth." This reaction just increased the girls' curiosity a hundredfold.

"Oh, lighten up Sasuke, like anyone would believe that I'd really go out with an ice queen like you," Naruto drawled with a roll of his eyes.

"Of course. It has nothing to do with the fact that I'm not gay and you're too much of an idiot for me to stand, let alone date," Sasuke grit out with a glare.

"Ouch!" Naruto exclaimed, holding a hand over his heart. "You wound me Sasuke, you truly do," he lamented.

Ino cleared her throat obnoxiously. "Um, excuse me? Weren't you about to spill the beans on some amazingly juicy gossip about you two? Get on with it please."

"Right!" Naruto said with a twinkle in his big blue eyes. "Well, our dearest friend, Sasuke, has graciously agreed to accompany me home as my date for the next three day weekend," he said regally, puffing out his chest.

"Pfft. Yeah right, like Sasuke would agree to something like that," Sakura said dismissively. "Besides, we all know that Sasuke isn't gay."

"He doesn't have to be, he just has to pretend. It shouldn't be too hard; he's prissy enough to make anyone believe it," Sakura and Ino had to struggle to keep a straight face at that, not wanting to be on the receiving end of Sasuke's violent tendencies. "Anyway, it is too true! There maaaaay have been some blackmail involved, but it has been decided!" This statement was accompanied by a triumphant grin.

"No way. You have blackmail on Sasuke Uchiha?" the girls screeched.

"Yep!" he crowed. "Unfortunately though, I cannot disclose that information at the moment or else it would be rather pointless," he informed them with a sage nod.

The girls turned to Sasuke, waiting for his firm denial. It didn't happen. But strangely, there seemed to be a smirk on his face now. "It's true. But it's too bad that Naruto is terrible at making deals. He said I had to accompany him as his date, but not that I had to act accordingly."

"Oh come on! Really Sasuke? When you agree to be someone's date, it's kinda a given that you're supposed to act like one. You can't play this prickly bastard card the whole time we're there!" Naruto whined.

"Oh no, I like to…read between the lines, if you will. I have no intention of making this easy on you," Sasuke said smugly, smirk still firmly in place.

"Yeah, well we'll just have to see about that, now won't we?" Naruto grumbled.

Sakura and Ino glanced at each other, silently agreeing that it would probably be a good idea to stay out of this mess until it was over. Then the gossip and juicy details would be released, at any cost.

...

It was a week later that Naruto decided it was time to start getting Sasuke adjusted to what it would be like pretending to be his date. Unfortunately for him, he neglected to inform his friend of this decision beforehand and he now had several new, extremely painful bruises. He was absolutely certain he probably had a few broken ribs as well, as he kept lamenting to anyone who would listen. He didn't get much sympathy when the full story came out.

Obviously, if they were to pretend to be a couple, then they would have to be accustomed to being at least a little physically intimate. He knew how the Uchiha was about people touching him, so he was just trying to get him adjusted to it over the next few days rather than having to deal with it all at once the following weekend. Really, Naruto had been doing him a favor! Sasuke did not agree. At all.

Sitting around the living room of their apartment with Sakura and Ino, Naruto presented his (exaggerated) side of the story, complete with flailing arms and finishing off with a pitiful pout. He catalogued all his bumps and bruises and explained how he got them all. The knot on the side of his head was from when he first surprised Sasuke by coming up and sliding an arm around his waist as they talked to some of their friends and got elbowed in the head for his troubles. His bruised tailbone and scraped elbows and palms came from when he'd pulled Sasuke into his lap when they went to eat lunch. Sasuke had proceeded to jump up as if burned then violently kicked over Naruto's chair, sending the blond skidding across the pavement. There had been various punches, kicks, and the like as Naruto had proceeded to try to hold Sasuke's hand, massage his shoulders, ruffle his hair, and give him hugs. His favorite had been when he'd kissed Sasuke's cheek before parting ways to go to class one day. The light pink flush and momentary speechless sputtering he witnessed from the normally stoic Sasuke was well worth the bruised shin and sternum he'd received before dashing off with a grin and a slight wheeze.

Sasuke snorted and barely refrained from rolling his eyes. "Just because we're supposedly a couple doesn't mean we have to be all over each other in public, idiot."

"Well, yeah, but all my friends know that I'm a very physically affectionate person with just about anyone, so wouldn't it be weird if I never even touched my 'boyfriend'?" Naruto pressed. "I just did what any other couple would do together." Sakura and Ino had to admit, he did have a point there.

Sasuke just gave his usual reply of "Hn." It made him slightly uncomfortable when Naruto referred to him as his boyfriend, even if it wasn't real. Shaking off the thought, he sent a glare Naruto's way. "That does not, however, call for you to walk up to me in the middle of my classroom and smack me in the ass while asking if I wanted a quickie," he bit out with clenched fists. It was a good thing that his little freshman undergrads were terrified of him already and would never dare to even think about commenting on the event.

Naruto brought his hand up and rubbed at the back of his head as he laughed nervously. "Ahh ha ha, yeah I guess not… And hence how I received this lovely shiner," he announced sheepishly, pointing to his left eye, which was a pretty purple.

The girls' mouths had fallen open and they were gaping at Naruto and his stupidity. The fact that he was still alive after that was testament to the fact that the two really were best friends, despite their violent relationship. "Naruto!" Sakura chastised. "That was completely uncalled for, especially in front of his students!" she yelled with a vicious glare, aiming a punch to the back of his head.

Naruto hissed in pain, clutching his abused skull. "Dammit Sakura! I already got more than enough of that from the bastard over there, I don't need it from you too! Jeez, I get it, no more groping in front of the kiddies," he groused with a sour glare and a pout. He was currently thanking God that he was blessed with unnaturally fast healing. Why did he have to have such violent friends?

...

"You all packed and ready to go, darling?" Naruto called out that next Friday after they'd gotten out of their classes.

Sasuke growled to himself and swung his bag up on his shoulder with a little more intensity than he'd meant to. "Fuck you Uzumaki."

Naruto heaved an exaggerated sigh. "Well, if you really want to…" he said with a grin, dancing out of the way of Sasuke's flying fist. He rolled back around and pinned Sasuke to the wall that he had been walking next to. "I think, however," he breathed huskily, "that it would be _me _that fucks _you_. Cupcake," he ended with a smirk. He saw Sasuke's eyes widen comically and his face and neck flush a bright red before he sneered in disgust and kneed his 'friend' in the groin.

"Enough with the idiotic nicknames, moron," he said flatly before kicking the blond in the stomach and proceeding down to the parking lot.

"Ahh, he loves me so," Naruto said dreamily to himself as he wheezed and grimaced in pain, curled tightly on the floor.

Five minutes later, Sasuke came back up, drawling, "I thought you were in a hurry dobe."

Naruto leapt up before his dark-haired friend could attack him again. "Eh he he, right, right, let's get going then! Yosh!" He really was excited about this trip.

Sasuke rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath, "How do I always get myself into these situations?"

After they'd packed their stuff in the car and were on their way out to the open road, Naruto broke the somewhat comfortable silence that had fallen over the quiet music drifting from the radio. "Okay, I know that you're getting tired of the stupid nicknames, but we really do need to decide what we're going to call each other. You're going to have to at least call me by my first name. It might be a bit suspicious if my boyfriend were to only call me Uzumaki, idiot, moron, and such, ya know?"

He had a point, though Sasuke refused to admit it. Instead he scoffed. "I don't _have_ to do anything. Dumbass," he added with a smirk.

Naruto's eyes darted over to Sasuke to glare at him momentarily before returning his attention to the road. "This whole thing needs to play out so that it's believable for me to hold up my end of the bargain," he warned.

Sasuke continued glowering out the window, not responding.

Naruto sighed, running a hand through his blond hair. "Come on Sasuke, please, I need you to do this for me," he murmured.

"Fine," he said softly. He hated it when Naruto didn't act like the happy idiot he usually did. It did strange things to him, like almost making him feel…guilty. But he was an Uchiha, and Uchihas did not know the meaning of guilt, simply because they never did anything wrong. He let out a derisive snort before asking blandly, "Why is this such a big deal anyway?"

Naruto didn't answer for a few moments. "My friends and my family worry about me. I went through some tough shit and they want to see me happy, and being with other people that know how to genuinely make me happy. They know I act happy a lot even when I'm not and it would make them feel better if they saw me with someone who could tell the difference and truly make me smile." Naruto shot him a bright grin before continuing. "And that, my friend, is why I chose you! Giving you a hard time always makes me smile!"

Sasuke digested this and wondered what 'tough shit' he'd been referring to and ignored his last comment. He still didn't really get why Naruto would choose him out of all the people he knew to come with him, but didn't pursue that line of questioning. "Why couldn't I just come as a friend?" he finally grumbled.

Naruto's grin widened. "Because, Kiba would give me hell if he found out I didn't actually have a hot date and I'm not gonna give that loser that kind of ammunition, he makes fun of me enough as it is. And because you're just so cute when you're doing something you don't want to," he joked, bringing an arm up to block the smack he knew was coming from his passenger.

"Quit calling me cute," he demanded. "I'm a man, dammit!" He realized right after it came out of his mouth that he sounded childish; if he'd been standing, he probably would have stomped his foot on the ground as well. He scowled out the window again, hating that Naruto brought out the immaturity that he thought he'd rid himself of by the age of 10.

Naruto noticed this as well and called him out on it. "Aw, is Sasuke sulking? Buck up my buttercup, we'll be there in about an hour and you'd better have your big boy panties on by then."

Sasuke rolled his eyes at Naruto's words. "Again with the nicknames?" he asked drily.

Now it was Naruto's turn to roll his eyes. "Fine, fine, I won't call you dumb names like cupcake, pumpkin, etc. Well, at least, not much," he amended with a light chuckle. "But I might call you normal pet names, it's just how I usually am with whoever I'm dating. You just have to call me by my first name, you can do that right?"

When he didn't get any response aside from a raised eyebrow, he pressed, "You know, I don't think I've ever heard you say it. You do know what it is right? It's Na-ru-to," he said, drawing out each syllable. "Come on, say it with me now: Na-ru-to."

"I'm going to cut your balls off and shove them down your throat if you don't quit treating me like a three-year-old, Na-ru-to," Sasuke said in a saccharine sweet voice through a clenched jaw.

Naruto released the wheel for a moment to clap loudly a few times. "He can speak! Congratulations Sasuke, I knew you could do it!" he praised. The next thing Naruto knew, he was nursing a new bruise and facing oncoming traffic as his arm was punched, forcing him to swerve into the lane next to them. He screamed and jerked the wheel back to the other side. Sasuke watched with a smug smirk on his face, unphased by his close encounter with death; hearing that idiot scream like a little girl was so worth it. Besides, he trusted the moron (not that he'd ever admit it) and knew that he had quick reflexes.

"What the fuck Sasuke? You could have gotten us killed! Jeez, my heart is about to pound out of my chest," Naruto muttered.

"But we didn't," Sasuke helpfully pointed out. "Now shut up and drive."

"Fine, bastard," Naruto grumbled.

Thirty minutes later, Naruto pulled up to a nice, two-story house and parked the car in the long driveway. He turned to grin at his partner in crime for the weekend. "We're heeeere!" he sing-songed. "Time to go meet the family darling!" Naruto called as he bounded out of the car, waiting impatiently for Sasuke to get out and join him.

Sasuke suddenly had a bad feeling about this. "God, I hope his family isn't just like him…"he muttered under his breath. His shoulders tensed as he steeled himself to enter what could be the lair of doom.

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><p>Man, after re-reading this, I realize I've made Sasuke quite the violent thing, haven't I? He talks with his fists more than anything else. Whoops, I'll perhaps try to make him less of an abusive bitch haha<p> 


	3. The Family

I don't particularly like this chapter and it's kinda boring, but it's what I've got for now. I'm gonna be super busy for the next three weeks with finals and whatnot, but after that, I should be updating pretty regularly. By the way, the first real dose of action between our two lovebirds will be two chapters after this one! But they're not going to get together right away, I hate it when stories do that. Anyway, here goes chapter 3!

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><p>The first thing Sasuke noticed when he walked into the house, tense and on guard, was that it smelled quite nice. Like…a light smattering of citrus fruits and something else vaguely familiar. The next thing he noticed was that the place was tastefully decorated and looked homey. He secretly had quite a fondness for places that looked lived in and like a<em> home<em> rather than a house, since his house was the farthest thing from that. He started to relax a little bit, lulled into a false sense of security. Perhaps Naruto's family wasn't as nuts as Naruto himself.

He cringed as Naruto suddenly shouted, "Oi! Granny! I'm home! Where's my red carpet and welcome party?"

Out of nowhere, a large fist came down on Naruto's head. Ah, so this is how he had already been so resistant to pain and violence before he'd met Sasuke. His eyes traveled from the fist up a long arm, to a shoulder, then did a subtle double take and thanked whatever god was listening for his practice in keeping up an emotionless mask. If not for that, he probably would have been gawking most impolitely. This woman had the largest breasts he had ever seen in real life! He finally managed to tear his eyes away after a second then continued his visual trek upward to the face of this mystery woman. Here he got another shock. Granny? No way. There was no way this woman was old enough to be Naruto's grandmother. She had a relatively young, fairly pretty face framed by blonde hair. He watched as her mouth twitched a bit as if she was holding back a smile as she glared at Naruto.

"How many times have I told you not to call me that you damn brat?" she said in irritation. They glared at each other for a moment then they both suddenly broke into shit-eating grins and she grabbed him in a big hug. "Good to see ya, kid."

Naruto, his head caught in the deep crevice of Mount Bosom, was struggling, kicking and hitting, but the woman was unphased. She finally released the boy and Naruto staggered back, gasping for breath. "You need to keep those things on a leash or something! Seriously! They're gonna kill someone one of these days!" he yelled.

She rolled her eyes. "Please, stop being so dramatic." The woman's grin then turned devilish. "Besides, that's what you get for disrespecting your elders!" Naruto shuddered, his face expressing just how horrified he was.

At that point, a man came bounding down the stairs, his wild white hair flying. "Naruto, my boy!" he called gruffly, coming to a stop before Naruto and 'Granny'. "You been getting any research for your old man? Eh?" he asked with a creepy waggle of his snowy eyebrows.

Naruto glared at the man. "I told you already, I have no desire to put myself through anymore bodily harm than I already get. I'm not a glutton for punishment like you are."

"Ah, I guess I am, or else I wouldn't be married to this lovely lady here," the man said with a grin, his hand moving to grope the bottom of the woman next to him. Her eyebrow gave a vicious twitch (Sasuke found himself briefly wondering if that's what he looked like when he got that tick like Naruto always liked to say he did) before her fist met with the man's face and he went flying into the wall next to him. "You stupid pervert!" she bellowed.

Sasuke stayed rooted in the spot he'd been standing in since he'd walked through the door, hoping that if he just stayed still long enough that he would blend in with his surroundings and remain unnoticed. These people were definitely just as insane as Naruto, if not more so. Of course, it was just as this thought entered his mind that he realized that the man was once again a part of the group and everyone's attention was turned towards him. He blinked owlishly a couple times, trying to figure out what was going on before he was forced to ask. "I'm sorry, what?"

Naruto rolled his eyes but looked at Sasuke affectionately. "Come here, silly! I was just attempting to introduce you to my family."

Sasuke wanted very much to say, 'No thanks, I'm fine right here,' but his good breeding, respect, and manners that he'd been ingrained to practice since birth refused to allow him to act so childish in front of his elders. Instead he approached the small family and offered his hand with a brief dip of his head. "Hello, I am Sasuke Uchiha. It is a pleasure to meet you," he said in a smooth, deep voice.

The man and woman glanced at each other briefly, baffled, before staring at Sasuke. Sasuke faltered, wondering if he should withdraw his hand. "I'm sorry, but am I missing something here?" he asked warily.

The couple snapped out of it and laughed heartily. The man grabbed Sasuke's hand from where it had dropped back to his side, shaking it vigorously. "No, no, of course not! We're just not used to dealing with kids that have manners! You've seen how this one acts," he announced, jerking a large thumb towards Naruto. They both ignored his indignant squawk. "And usually his friends aren't any better. But we honestly don't mind, we like things casual around here if you can't tell," he said with a grin. "Anyway, I'm Jiraiya and my gorgeous wife here is Tsunade and it's nice to meet you too."

"You have a lovely home," Sasuke commented honestly.

"Why thank you Sasuke," Tsunade said fondly. "Naruto, why can't you bring home more nice people like this," she asked with a scowl. Sasuke wondered if this woman had multiple personalities or something. "What's a nice boy like you doing with this brat, anyway?" she asked curiously.

"I ask myself that all the time," he said drily before he could think about it. He tensed as he remembered that they were supposed to actually like each other. Shit.

But his worries were dispelled as he heard them both let out a surprised burst of laughter. "So the puppy has some bark after all," Jiraiya said, eyes twinkling.

"You got that right," Naruto said. "And he's definitely got the bite to match," he muttered sourly.

"Quit sucking up, you're gonna make me look bad!" Naruto griped. "Just wait until you've known him for a little while, he won't be so polite anymore," he told his grandparents or whoever they were. Sasuke realized he really didn't know anything about Naruto beyond his school life.

"Well Sasuke, we're glad to finally have met you, we've heard a lot about you. I'm delighted you came," Tsunade said kindly.

Sasuke hoped he'd be able to say the same by the end of this trip.

"Naruto, why don't you show Sasuke around?" Jiraiya suggested.

Naruto shrugged. "'Kay. Come on," he said, jerking his head to gesture to Sasuke to follow him.

They wandered through the house, with Naruto flippantly pointing things out such as: "This is a kitchen in case you haven't ever seen one before," and "This marvelous contraption is called a _toilet_ which means this room is called a _bathroom_," and so on. Sasuke rolled his eyes and ignored him, simply taking a look around for himself while he aimlessly followed Naruto around the house. It wasn't a terribly big house so the 'tour' was over in about two minutes. They made their way upstairs and Naruto shoved his way into a bedroom, dropping his bags haphazardly on the floor before flopping gracelessly onto the queen size bed inside.

"I take it this is your room?" Sasuke asked drily.

Naruto grinned. "Yup! You can just set your stuff down there by the closet," he said, flailing in that general direction.

Sasuke stilled as his brain quickly made some conclusions. "I'd really rather put my stuff in the room that I'll be staying in…" he said slowly, hoping he was wrong.

"Um, okay…again, put your stuff over there. What's your problem?" Naruto asked, confused.

"I'm staying in your room with you?" Sasuke reiterated.

"Yeah. I still don't see what your problem is."

"We're supposedly going out! They don't mind us sharing a room?" he asked incredulously.

Naruto laughed. "Jiraiya is probably hoping we'll get it on and he'll get to record it for his 'research,'" he said.

Sasuke felt his cheeks heat up. "Excuse me?" he squeaked,

Sasuke's reaction made Naruto laugh even harder. When he got himself under control he spoke again. "Jiraiya writes porn. And he's good at it; it pays good money! His research gets him into trouble all the time though."

Sasuke knew he was probably doing a good impression of a gaping fish. He never would have guessed. He finally shook his head to clear his thoughts before continuing his complaints. "Okay, fine. But you're going to be sleeping on the floor or something, right?"

Naruto blinked at him. "You're kidding right? Come on man, this is a queen sized bed! We'll be fine! I promised I wouldn't rape you, what more do you want?"

Sasuke glared at him. When he opened his mouth to continue, Naruto beat him to it. "Besides, what happens if Jiraiya or Tsunade came in and saw one of us sleeping on the floor? That doesn't exactly scream happy couple, does it?"

Sasuke's mouth snapped shut with a click. As much as he loathed to admit it (and _loathe _he most certainly did), Naruto had a point. "We'll talk about it later," he said stiffly.

Naruto shook his head. "Whatever, man," he mumbled. His eyes scanned the room lazily before lighting up as they fell upon the entertainment center beneath his TV.

A slow smirk spread across his face. "Hey Sasuke, bet I can kick your ass at Halo."

Sasuke snorted. "Halo? Come on, surely you've got something better than that."

"Hey!" Naruto shouted. "Don't knock it! I bet you're just too scared," he taunted.

"As if," Sasuke scowled, stalking over and grabbing a controller. "Well?" he said impatiently as he looked back over his shoulder.

"I'm coming, I'm coming, hold yer horses." Naruto ambled over to his Xbox 360 and turned it on before the epic battle began.

…

Two hours later, Naruto was literally rolling on the floor laughing. "Jeez Sasuke," he gasped. "That's, what, the sixth time you jumped off the edge in a row?"

"Shut up," Sasuke growled. "I told you I hate this location!" He chucked his controller at the laughing blond head.

"I always knew you were an emo kid, but I didn't know you were suicidal!" Naruto said between giggles.

"Shut up!" Sasuke shouted before launching himself at his friend. They rolled around, trying to gain the upper hand for a few minutes, but Naruto wasn't able to put up much of a fight with how much he was laughing. Somehow, however, he managed to finally pin Sasuke down, sitting on his hips and pinning his arms to the floor. His blue eyes sparkled as he stared down at his huffy captive.

"Aw, come on Sasuke, don't be a spoilsport!" he cooed with a mischievous smile. "You need to relax."

"Make me," Sasuke found himself saying childishly. He wanted to smack himself when he realized he actually said that out loud. He eyed Naruto warily as the boy started to chuckle lowly.

"Oh Sasuke, you shouldn't have asked," he said huskily before his head lowered. Sasuke's eyes widened comically as Naruto's lips touched his neck. He thrashed and squirmed, but Naruto wasn't exactly light and he didn't budge. He stubbornly continued to explore the soft pale skin beneath his lips until he found a spot that made Sasuke still. 'Found it,' Naruto thought victoriously. He attacked that spot with teeth, tongue, and lips until Sasuke seemed to melt. He clamped down harshly after a couple seconds, making Sasuke yelp and shove him off. Naruto allowed him to with a laugh.

"What the hell was that, you jackass?" Sasuke yelled, eyes wide and his hand grasping his neck like he'd just been stabbed. He jumped up and rushed to the mirror on the other side of the room.

"Quit being such a prude! It's nothing," Naruto said with a roll of his eyes. "Besides, you liiiiiiiiiked it!"

"Nothing?" he screamed, near hysterical. "Look at this mark!" He pointed to a dark red bruise on the junction of his neck and left shoulder. "And I most definitely did NOT like it!" he said viciously.

"You did too, whether you want to admit or not! And the mark will help with the charade; it's like proof that you belong to me," Naruto said with a grin.

"I do NOT belong to anyone, most of all you," Sasuke sneered.

"You do for this weekend! I _own_ you!" he crowed. "I've got Itachi and your mama on speed dial," he jeered, holding up his phone.

Sasuke could do nothing but grit his teeth and ball his fists. After he got himself a little more under control, he sent Naruto a withering glare. "Pull another stunt like that, and I don't care what you do, I'm out of here," he warned.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry! Jeez." Naruto jumped as the phone he'd been holding up suddenly began to trill. "Oh yeah! It's time to go meet up with my friends. I can't wait to introduce you!" he said, bouncing delightedly.

Sasuke pulled the collar his shirt over to cover the mark the best he could as he sullenly followed the bounding blond out of his room and down the stairs.

This weekend was surely going to kill him…


	4. The Friends

Ughh this chapter is so cliché! But it's alright I suppose, if you don't mind that kind of stuff. Ummm this chapter is a quite a bit longer to make up for the long wait between updates. As in more than three normal chapters long since it's been about three weeks since I last updated. I hope you appreciate all my hard work, I spent more than several hours all at once writing this. I'm expecting a lot of reviews (good or bad) for this one! But, good news! Finals are done and over with and engineering still has yet to kill me (or my GPA) so far! Whew! That means more regular updates for y'all! Hopefully…hehe. Anyway, enough of me, here is chapter fo!

...Just kidding. This got waaay too long so I'm splitting it into two (still long) chapters.

EDIT: I originally posted both chapters at once, but now I'm just posting this one and putting the other one back up later. Sorry if you got the message and didn't get to read it! It'll be up within a few days

* * *

><p>Twenty minutes later found Naruto bursting into Kiba's house, with Sasuke trailing warily behind him once again. They were greeted by several loud exclamations from unseen people in the next room. A husky guy with shaggy brown hair barreled out of the room and straight into Naruto, flooring him. Sasuke jumped back and probably would have squealed in surprise if he hadn't had more control. There must be something in the water in this town that made everyone batshit crazy.<p>

Kiba sat on Naruto's chest triumphantly. "Hey man! How's it feel to be my bitch?"

Naruto laughed freely before twisting his body and flipping Kiba off him. Sasuke watched in vague amusement as this 'Kiba' character's eyes widened comically as he realized he was quickly going to be losing his upper hand. Naruto moved to pin his friend down, grinning viciously is his face. "Pinned ya," he sing-songed.

Kiba rolled his eyes. "Yeah, okay Nala, you're alpha female. Now let me up," he growled. Naruto did as told then was enveloped in a crushing bear hug.

"Glad you made it bro. How you been, you fucking maniac?" Kiba said with a feral grin and some overly enthusiastic 'pats' on the back.

Naruto laughed again. "Oh you know how I do," he crowed proudly, a mischievous twinkle in his eye.

"So you got that smoking hot date? You know what's gonna happen if you don't," Kiba announced warningly.

"Ahhh, yup! Sure do!" Naruto stepped to the side, revealing the quiet Sasuke behind him, who had been attempting his chameleon impression once again. It had been working quite well until Naruto deliberately brought attention to him. Sasuke glowered at his 'boyfriend.'

Kiba assumed his glower was for other reasons. "Uzumaki, you can't just bring your date here then ignore him! Manners, dude!"

Naruto scoffed. "You're one to talk," he muttered.

Kiba proceeded to circle Sasuke slowly, inspecting him like some animal on show. Sasuke half-expected him to get in his face and lift up his lips to inspect his teeth. Once Kiba had come full circle, Sasuke presented him with an arched eyebrow and a dry, "May I help you? I can show you my papers authenticating my breeding if you'd like."

A bark of laughter fell unbidden from Kiba's lips. He threw Naruto a thumbs up. "I'm impressed. I gotta say, even from a straight man's point of view, he's pretty hot," Kiba said conspiratorially to his friend as he sidled up next to him.

"I can still hear you, you know," Sasuke drawled.

"Eh, hehe, yeah," Kiba said sheepishly as Naruto rolled his eyes. "Aaaaanyway! Let's head to the living room, everyone's waiting for ya." Kiba grabbed Naruto around the neck and dragged him into the other room, leaving Sasuke to huff in annoyance and follow behind them.

He walked in to see a small crowd of people around his 'boyfriend,' Naruto chattering excitedly to all of them. At least this time Naruto didn't completely forget about him. As soon as he saw Sasuke amble in, he pulled away from the group and hooked Sasuke around the waist, pulling him against his side.

"Everyone, this is my boyfriend, Sasuke Uchiha," he boasted, practically radiating smugness. Although he'd never really thought of Sasuke in a romantic way, he knew that the guy was probably one of the most beautiful creatures on Earth and anyone with eyes and half a brain would be jealous.

Sasuke stood with his hands shoved in his jeans pockets and his eyes focusing on some point on the wall behind the group. Although he looked to be the epitome of aloof coolness, his whole body was tense and he was decidedly uncomfortable with everyone's attention focused on him while he was in the arms of another man. He saw everyone's eyes widen to various degrees when he was introduced as the infamous, mysterious date that everyone had been waiting to meet.

After basking in the brief moment of stunned silence, Naruto went on to continue introductions. He started at the left of the small semicircle of his friends. "You've already met Kiba Inuzuka of course, and next to him is Hinata Hyuuga." Hyuuga? Sasuke knew that name. He saw the girl's pale, pale eyes and frowned slightly. Yes, she must be related to the Hyuuga he knew. He turned his attention back to Naruto's introductions. "That's Temari there and her brother Gaara, don't let his homicidal vibes scare you," he joked, motioning to the glowering redhead. "Then there's Tenten," the girl gave a cheeky wave, "and…" When Sasuke looked to the last person there, his own eyes widened. Shit. "Hyuuga," he said coolly before Naruto could introduce him properly. Neji presented him with a cool smirk. "Uchiha, what a…pleasant surprise."

Naruto looked between the two, thoroughly confused. "Um, do you two know each other?"

Sasuke nodded curtly. "Yes. We went to boarding school together for a few years in high school," he said.

Everyone noticed the strange tension between the two but Naruto just pushed through it. "Okay then, great! Now what do you say we head to the kitchen? I'm starved!" he announced with a grin.

Everyone rolled their eyes at him but agreed and shuffled into the kitchen to grab some snacks and drinks. They all talked amongst themselves as they lounged against various surfaces with Naruto hopping up and sitting on the island counter and Sasuke standing close to his side. He nudged his quiet friend with his leg. "Sasuke," he whined, "why are you being so quiet? Can't you at least try to get to know my friends?"

Neji, who stood across from them, smirked with a leer in Sasuke's direction. "It's alright Naruto. I know Sasuke is just shy until he…warms up to you."

Sasuke sent a withering glare his way and Naruto frowned lightly, wondering what the deal was with those two. Neji glanced at them and, seeing that he had both of their attentions, deliberately let his eyes rove up and down Sasuke's body.

He pushed away from the counter and into the couple's personal space, saying, "Sorry to eat and run, but I have some things that need to be taken care of." His declaration was met by half-hearted goodbyes as everyone else kept talking. He clapped Sasuke on the shoulder. "It was nice seeing you again, Uchiha," he said in a near whisper, his fingers trailing lightly across the boy's neck as he moved to leave. Naruto's eyes narrowed dangerously and he held tight to Sasuke's other shoulder, knowing his friend was barely restraining himself from attempting murder. He forced a tight smile and waved with his free hand. "Yeah, see ya later Neji."

As time went by, Neji was forgotten and everyone caught up with each other and got to know a little bit about Sasuke. He would answer questions when directly asked of him, but he wasn't cooperative enough to actually offer information or join in on conversations. This was quite frustrating to Naruto, but he just hoped that everyone believed the excuse that Sasuke was 'shy'. Yeah right, he scoffed to himself. He'd talk to his friend that night, he resolved.

They'd eventually meandered back into the living room and continued their casual conversations. Naruto sat with Sasuke on a small loveseat, Naruto's arm casually draped along the back of the seat behind Sasuke's shoulders.

Sasuke hadn't been paying much attention to the chattering around him until he realized belatedly that the current conversation apparently was pointed towards him and Naruto.

"Yeah! Tell us how you guys met!" he heard one of the girls say.

Naruto laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "Ehh well, we were roommates freshman year and-" He was interrupted by Kiba before he could continue.

"Wait, I thought you hated your freshman roommate," he said, confused.

"Well, I wouldn't say hate…"Naruto attempted.

Sasuke snorted, a questioning brow raised. "You would and you did. Many times a day. Don't worry, the feeling was quite mutual," he announced to the room dryly. "At first, at least."

Naruto had to admit, he was quite pleasantly surprised at how well Sasuke seemed to be cooperating at this point after how he'd been acting all day.

"Somehow he decided that we were rivals or something and he ended up following me everywhere," Sasuke explained, taking over the story. Naruto was shocked; usually you couldn't get Sasuke to speak this much if his life depended on it.

"It was so pathetic, yet so…adorable," Sasuke said and only Naruto knew him well enough to be able to read his subtle expressions. Only Naruto saw the smirk and heard the condescending tone while all the girls cooed about how adorable they were.

Naruto had been getting a sinking feeling in his stomach as he realized what Sasuke was trying to do, so he tried to jump in and continue the story himself. "Well, -"

It was Sasuke who interrupted him this time. "Naruto, _I_ was telling the story, you always get it wrong."

"Yeah Naruto, don't be rude, let Sasuke talk for once!" Temari quipped. Oh how Naruto was starting to regret this…

Sasuke shot him a smug look. "Anyway. Yeah, one day I was just sitting in our room, minding my own business, when he bursts in looking quite irate. He starts screaming at me, something about how I stole the love of his life or something along those lines. Of course, I had no idea what he was talking about seeing as how I hadn't been involved with anyone since I'd been in college, but he insisted that I'd done it on purpose. After that, he attempted to stalk me to 'find out my weakness,' but his subtlety was severely lacking." He heard everyone chuckle lightly in agreement while Naruto pouted. They all knew Naruto wasn't exactly the sneakiest person out there. "I indulged him for a few days but soon grew tired of it and demanded that he quit it.

"He sputtered a bit then threw a punch at me and we ended up getting into a fist fight that sent us both to the infirmary." Naruto's friends nodded, vaguely remembering hearing about that incident. "Afterwards, he came up to me with that trademark grin of his, rubbing the back of his neck like he always does, then apologized and asked if I could teach him some of the moves I'd used on him, like we were old friends. I was a bit bewildered and more than a little suspicious at first, but he eventually grew on me by the end of freshman year," he admitted with a shrug.

Naruto watched Sasuke curiously, feeling a little bit more at ease. So far, his story was fairly accurate as to how their relationship had actually started with only a few minor embellishments here and there. How was he going to make the jump to the romantic that didn't actually happen?

"But freshman year, that was five years ago," someone pointed out. "What took so long?"

"I never had any intention to start anything romantically with him. It had never even crossed my mind, in fact. We weren't even really friends at first, more like sparring partners, but he eventually got me to come out with him to eat afterwards and it just went from there I suppose until we were friends. Then one day in out junior year when we were sparring, he managed to pin me. He was staring at me with a weird expression on his face and wasn't letting me up even when I tapped out. I opened my mouth to snap at him and the next thing I know, his tongue is in my mouth. I punched him in the head and knocked him out and didn't talk to him for almost a month after that."

Kiba laughed. "Naruto, come on man, you gotta have more tact than that! Did you even know that Sasuke was gay at that point?"

Sasuke glowered at him. "I'm _not_ gay," he snapped curtly.

Everyone looked at Sasuke with slightly wide eyes, surprised by his venomous response. Kiba chuckled nervously. "Um, right, you're bi like Naruto right?"

"No, I'm not," Sasuke replied with a glare. When everyone stared at him in confusion, he realized his blunder and cursed to himself. "It's…it's just…Naruto," he mumbled, flushing. How mortifying, he sounded like some lovesick little school girl! He saw a flash of color next to him and realized Naruto had turned a healthy red color as well. At least it seemed they were off the hook for now as everyone looked at each other with smiles at his admission. Naruto jumped in a few seconds later.

"Well, you can see how I could make the mistake that he was!" he quipped with a small laugh, scratching self-consciously at his cheek. "I mean, he never seemed interested in the hordes of girls that worshipped him, and with that hair and that pretty face of his and that prissy attitude, anyone could make the mistake."

Sasuke had to consciously keep himself from gaping and/or punching Naruto in the face. Did he really think that? Did he really come off as gay to people? He grit his teeth and pushed those thoughts aside, pretending to be a good sport as everyone shared a small chuckle.

"Anyway," said Tenten after a minute, "Come on, continue Sasuke!"

He cleared his head and continued as ordered, starting to get caught up in his story telling. "He finally convinced me that he wouldn't suddenly jump me without warning anymore and we slowly got back to where we were to become friends again and he even managed to get me to get an apartment with him. Things were fine until graduation. A group of our friends were going out to celebrate afterwards and Naruto turned them down, saying we'd catch up with them later. I knew then that something was wrong; he never turns down an invitation to go out with friends without a very good reason. He was abnormally quiet while he dragged me back to our place.

"When we got there, he paced about the living room for a while before he finally burst. He told me that he was desperately in love with me. He said that he knew I probably didn't feel the same but he figured it was worth a chance. I told him exactly what I told you; I'm not gay. His eyes welled up and his little lip started trembling and he burst into tears." Sasuke could barely withhold the sadistic smirk at this point. "He begged me to let him just stay with me, even if it was only as just friends. He said that he didn't think he could make it without me. He continued blubbering on about how I hated him now and life wasn't worth living." Sasuke took great pleasure in the murderous waves pouring from his friends next to him. He knew how extensive Naruto's pride as a man was and it was taking a pretty big hit now.

"I finally took pity on him and told him I didn't hate him, I just couldn't return his feelings. He took a few minutes to calm down, seeming deep in thought. Then, he shot me a grin and said that was fine, but he wasn't going to give up on me. Every day after that, he tried to court me and win my affections."

Kiba snorted. "Naruto? 'Court' someone? I think we already established that he has no tact."

"Hey!" Naruto shouted indignantly. "I can be quite the gentleman when I want to be!" Why did everyone only seem to believe the worst of him?

"Yes, I tried ignoring him, but that just meant that his…persistence increased about tenfold and, as I'm sure all of you know, Naruto is not an easy one to ignore," he said wryly with a small smirk that Naruto was sure the others interpreted as a fond half-smile if the breathy sighs from the females were anything to go by.

"Oh give me a break," Naruto muttered sourly under his breath. Seriously! How did his friends not notice these things? That man there was pure evil! Of course, as he was thinking this, he conveniently forgot that this whole thing was his own plan in the first place.

"So, I finally agreed to go out with him, mostly to shut him up," Sasuke finally ended.

Kiba whooped with laughter. "I knew it fox-face! You had to annoy him into going out with you! Oh man, that's rich!"

Naruto glared and grumbled, "That's not how it went down at all and you know it, Uchiha."

Hinata, in the meantime, spoke up, surprising everyone. "S-so, are you saying that you don't even l-l-like Naruto?" she asked, her brows puckered slightly in a worried frown.

Sasuke's eyes widened fractionally, caught off guard. "He's…tolerable," he finally replied, a light blush staining his cheeks. As embarrassing as the color on his face was, it was apparently the perfect touch to make all the girls melt and coo about how he 'really must love Naruto after all.' Well, all except Hinata. Who would have known that such a shy, quiet girl would have a protective streak like that? That mixed with the fact that she was obviously extremely intelligent made Sasuke mentally grimace; he'd have to be on his guard a bit more when she was around. She seemed pacified at the moment, but he knew that she would be watching him. They always say it's the quiet ones you have to watch out for…

…

It wasn't long after that escapade that the boys left, Naruto trailing slightly behind Sasuke. "Hey," he called. Sasuke barely looked over his shoulder to grunt a "Hn?"

Naruto calmly walked up to his friend, took a deep breath, then proceeded to kidney punch his best friend. Hard.

Sasuke staggered a bit, gasping at the pain as he glared viciously. "Fuck! What was that for, moron?"

"For making me sound like such a wuss! Now they're all gonna think that I'm the girl of the relationship!" he cried in distress as they climbed into the car.

"Oh, so _I'm_ supposed to be the girl of the relationship?" Sasuke asked in disbelief as he angrily buckled his seatbelt.

Naruto gave him a flat look that said, 'Well _duh_.'

"I'm not even the one that's gay here!" he protested childishly.

"Sasuke, come on. I outweigh you by at least 35 pounds and I'm several inches taller and wider than you. You're pretty and lean and, though God knows you definitely aren't, you look delicate. Who would honestly believe that I'm the catcher and you're the pitcher?" he asked dryly.

"Anyone who watches us spar and sees this 'pretty little boy' kick your oh-so-manly ass," Sasuke remarked smugly.

"Yeah, whatever. Besides, you always get so flustered anytime anyone does anything sexual to you. You're not aggressive enough to be the man."

"That is not true!" Sasuke nearly screeched, though the light flush on his cheeks negated that statement.

"Sasuke, you couldn't be sexually aggressive if your life depended on it; you've got a stick shoved way too far up your ass already," Naruto jibed.

"I'll have you know that you are very wrong-not that you'll ever see it anyway," Sasuke replied with a haughty sniff.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Yeah, whatever you say princess," he muttered as he pulled into the driveway. He noticed that both Tsunade and Jiraiya's vehicles were gone. Huh.

He unlocked the front door and walked in, ignoring Sasuke sulking behind him. He ambled into the kitchen aimlessly and noticed two notes on the fridge. The first one was written in a messy scribble and said:

_Hey kid! I went to go do some more research and might be gone for a few days. I might not be back by the time you leave so have fun with your pretty little boy toy and I'll see you this summer. –Jiraiya _

Naruto stared at it, perplexed. He'd just gotten here and the stupid old man already left? He snatched the next note and read it.

_Oi brat, I've gone to kill that stupid pervert. It might take me a while to catch the rat bastard and find a way to properly dispose of his body. Don't get into trouble and do NOT have sex in my bed or on the kitchen table. If you do, I'll kill you too. _

He laughed to himself as he finished reading the second note, knowing it could only have been Tsunade. Sasuke was curious, but he refused to give in and get close enough to the jerk to read over his shoulder so he continued brooding across the kitchen.

Naruto looked up to see Sasuke leaning against the opposite counter with arms crossed and a pout on his face (not that he'd ever call it a pout). "Looks like the crazy old bats will be gone for the weekend, so we've got the house all to ourselves," he said with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows.

Sasuke let out a disgusted "Tch," and turned abruptly on his heel to leave the room.

"Aw come on buttercup, don't be like that!" Naruto laughed as he chased after is friend.

Sasuke came to a stop as he realized something. He turned slowly to Naruto with a growing smirk. "Well, this means that I don't have to sleep in the same bed as you anymore, doesn't it?"

Naruto faltered. "But-but, I was looking forward to that!" he whined.

Sasuke eyed him warily. "Excuse me? And why, exactly, were you looking forward to it?"

"Well," Naruto explained, "I always sleep better with a warm body next to me, it makes me feel safe."

Sasuke scoffed, even as he felt his body warm slightly. "You're such a baby," he muttered as he continued walking. He stopped suddenly as he crossed the threshold to the living room, causing Naruto to barrel into him and send them both crashing to the floor.

"Jeez Sasuke, what the hell is your deal? Why did you stop like that? Ughh," he groaned, rubbing his head.

"Naruto, who is the man in the living room? You said no one was supposed to be here," he hissed.

Naruto's head shot up and he shoved Sasuke further to the ground and shielded him beneath his body as he looked around sharply. He went still as he saw the silver-haired man sprawled across his couch. He then bounded up and snatched the little orange book from the man's hand.

"What the fuck Kakashi?" Naruto yelled. "Quit sneaking into my damn house! Jiraiya doesn't have any new manuscripts for you to peek at anyway," he said with a glower.

"Maa, Naruto, I was given permission this time," the man replied with a sleepy blink.

Naruto threw him an incredulous stare. "I don't believe you. Jiraiya would never let you in here without supervision."

"Ah, but it was Tsunade. She told me to come here and make sure you don't screw like bunnies all over her nice furniture. Oh, and her room is booby trapped, so head's up," Kakashi said with a slow grin.

"Yeah, okay, I believe that one," Naruto muttered wryly.

"So is this a problem you often have? Getting caught having sex on various furniture items?" Sasuke asked, eyebrow raised.

"One time! One time, that stupid old woman found me having sex with some chick in the kitchen and now she thinks I'm some sex fiend that is out to christen every corner of her house!" he yelled.

"Right, well I'll leave you two to it. Feel free to have all the sex you'd like in your own room though, Naruto," Kakashi said, snatching his book back.

"Why does everyone feel like they have to comment on my sex life? Shut up and mind your own business," Naruto muttered. "Come on," he said, pulling Sasuke with him up to his room.

They heard Kakashi chuckle behind them on their way out. "So eager! Ah, young love," he said wistfully.

Sasuke ripped his wrist out of Naruto's grasp when they got to the top of the stairs. "Great, now he thinks we're having sex."

"He's gonna think we're having sex no matter where we go, it doesn't really matter," Naruto said absently as he went into his room and plopped down on the bed.

"Ahhhh, I'm beat. I'm about ready to go to bed, what about you?" Naruto rolled over to eye Sasuke.

Sasuke shrugged. "I guess. We just need to figure out where I'm going to sleep."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "You're sleeping in bed with me, just get over it."

Sasuke bristled. "I already told you I refuse!"

"Well, where would you like to sleep then? Tsunade's room has been booby trapped, Jiraiya's room is...yeah you don't want to know all the stuff that goes on in his bed…and then there's Kakashi in the living room. So you tell me Sasuke, where would you like to sleep?" Naruto asked innocently.

Sasuke scowled darkly. "Fine," he said stiffly, "I'll just sleep on the floor then."

"Really? Come on, no way! I'm not giving you any sheets or anything and I'll just come over and step on you and annoy you so you can't fall asleep," Naruto warned. He could hear Sasuke's teeth grinding from across the room – he knew it wasn't just an empty threat. "I promise I won't bite," he assured, turning full-blown puppy dog eyes on his friend.

"I just hate you even more now, you know," Sasuke growled, snatching the pillow out from underneath Naruto's head.

Naruto laughed warmly as his head thumped down onto the mattress. "Yeah, yeah, I know you do. Yet you can't help but to looooove me!" he teased.

A few minutes later, they settled down into bed, with their own version of the Berlin Wall between them from head to toe a la Sasuke Uchiha. "Hey Sasuke," Naruto called across the barrier.

"What?" he grunted back, the sound muffled.

Naruto shoved the pillow between their heads out of the way to meet Sasuke's glare. "Shut up princess, it's just so I can talk to you without shouting. Don't worry, I'll repair your precious wall when we're done."

"Like you won't just shout anyway," Sasuke scoffed.

Naruto stared at Sasuke thoughtfully for a long moment, leaving him slightly unnerved. "What is it idiot? Don't think too hard, you'll hurt yourself."

"What's the deal with you and Neji?" he finally asked.

Sasuke tensed and grabbed the pillow back from Naruto to shove it back in place. "Nothing. We're done, go to bed," he said curtly as he turned to face the opposite wall.

Naruto just moved it out of the way again and grabbed Sasuke's shoulder, making him turn back around to face him. "Whoa whoa, what? You think I'm just gonna let a reaction like that go? I mean, I know Neji can be a royal prick, but what did he do to you?" Naruto asked, perplexed.

"Can't you take a hint dumbass?" Sasuke hissed. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Seriously Sasuke, what happened?" he asked, getting a little worried. "He seemed a little more interested in you than he should have been," he mumbled somewhat sullenly.

"Oh yeah? What gave you that idea?" Sasuke asked sarcastically.

"I didn't like the way he was looking at you," Naruto said bluntly, his eyes narrowing again at the thought.

"And you think I did?" he asked incredulously. "I didn't _ask_ him to molest me with his eyes!"

"No, I know that Sasuke, that wasn't what I meant," Naruto said apologetically. After a minute of tense silence, he tried again. "Will you please tell me?"

Sasuke moved his gaze to glare at the ceiling and let out a frustrated sigh. "It's not even a big deal," he finally answered. "We went to boarding school together, like he said. We were roommates at first and tentative friends. He and I used to compete to be the top of the class and we were pretty even at first. Eventually though, I pulled ahead and he was never quite able to catch up. He was always just barely second place and to him, if you didn't get first then you got last. He grew to resent me, to hate me with a burning passion. He wanted to control me, humiliate me, and break me. He first tried to dominate me sexually, but found out I wasn't the push over he thought I was when I broke several of his ribs and his nose. Of course, this just damaged his pride even more and he became obsessed.

"Unfortunately, he was very resourceful and very good with computers. He planted questionable things among my stuff and was good enough at photoshop type programs to present everyone with 'evidence' that I was some gay man-whore. It got around that I was a good lay and would sleep with any guy that asked. I became the school pariah. Everyone would act like I was the most disgusting thing they'd ever seen. But when I was alone, so many of those hypocrites propositioned me, pleading for a quick fuck, telling me how _beautiful_ I was." Sasuke's voice took on an edge of disgust. "And those that tried to do it by force often times ended up in the hospital. Eventually the school called my family because I was becoming a liability and I was immediately withdrawn from that school."

"Why didn't you tell anyone sooner?" Naruto asked quietly.

"It wasn't anything I couldn't handle. I didn't want to let that asshole win," Sasuke replied stonily.

Naruto watched him avidly watch the ceiling before reaching over and pulling Sasuke into an awkward hug with the Great Wall still between them. One arm pulled Sasuke's shoulders close, resting his hand gently on soft black hair. Sasuke found his face pressed close to Naruto's neck.

"I'm sorry, Sasuke," he murmured, his lips lightly brushing Sasuke's temples as he carded his fingers through his hair to graze his scalp.

"I don't need your pity," he retorted gruffly, though he didn't move to pull away immediately. Naruto's warmth was rather comforting and he always had been a sucker for someone stroking his hair. He realized he was more tired than he'd thought as his eyelids started drifting closed. Naruto seemed to notice this and laughed softly.

"Come on shmoopsie poo, up up. Let's get the prince back within his country's borders and I'll repair the borderline." Naruto moved to return the pillow between their heads but Sasuke's half-hearted wave stopped him. "Leave it," he mumbled.

Naruto couldn't stop the gentle smile that came to his face. He really did care a lot about Sasuke; he'd do anything for his best friend. He knew that the guy liked to pretend that he was emotionless and invincible, but he knew these things were hard for him. He seemed to be the only one that understood Sasuke-ese so it was up to him to stay with Sasuke so that the silly boy could still get what he needed even when he was too proud to ask. When he glanced back at said silly boy, he was already fast asleep, facing Naruto with his hand curled lightly next to his face. Naruto stroked those fingers lightly before retracting his hand. Yeah, he'd definitely stay by Sasuke's side, whether he wanted him to or not, he thought with a grin. "Good night Sasuke," he whispered before closing his eyes and drifting to sleep himself.

…


	5. the Food Fandango

Naruto was the first to awaken the next morning. His eyes opened easily and he realized he actually felt well-rested for the first time in a long time. Wondering why, he glanced down and saw the source. Ah. As adamant as Sasuke had been about the division, it was him that had crossed over, not Naruto. He held in his laughter as he noticed how Sasuke clung to him like a koala bear. Oh, what he wouldn't give for a camera right now! Huh. Sasuke actually looked kind of…cute. Naruto never thought that would be a thought to cross his mind about the Ice Queen here. Bahahaha. Sasuke. Cute.

Although he managed to keep the actual sound in, his body still shook with repressed laughter, which woke up Sasuke anyway. He watched as Sasuke blearily opened one eye then the other before blinking sleepily. "Whaaa?" he groaned unintelligibly, confused. Naruto couldn't help it anymore as he burst out into boisterous laughter.

Sasuke frowned and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he asked groggily, "What the hell's so funny?" He then realized that he was overly warm and his face was way too close to Naruto's and that his stuffed animal had grown quite a bit in girth. The gears in his brain finally got on track as he realized what exactly had happened.

"GAHH!" He squeaked and jumped back, falling over the edge of the bed. This just made Naruto laugh even harder. Sasuke growled and grabbed the closest thing on the floor he could find and chucked it at Naruto's head. He was pleased to find out as it connected that it was a soccer cleat. Too bad it didn't have metal spikes in it. This didn't make Naruto stop, but it did make him gradually reduce to the occasional giggle.

"You should have seen yourself, clinging to me like that! The big scary Uchiha was just soooo cute!" he cooed.

Sasuke's face flamed. "Fuck you, Uzumaki," he growled, flopping backwards to lay flat on the floor. "I didn't have Ryuu with me, that's probably why," he muttered to himself.

He swallowed a high pitched scream as Naruto's head suddenly popped over the side of the bed. "Who's Ryuu?" he asked curiously.

God, this day had just barely started and it was already absolutely mortifying. "No one," he groaned. "Leave me alone and let me die in peace."

"Oh please, quit being such a drama queen." There was a pause then, "Oh that's right! Ryuu is your stuffed animal, isn't it?"

"No, I don't know what you're talking about," Sasuke replied, a little too quickly.

"So what kind of animal is it, huh? Is it a teddy bear?" Naruto pestered.

"No, of course he's not," Sasuke snapped. How dare he think Ryuu could be a common teddy bear! Damn simpleton. Ryuu was much more unique than that.

"Then what is it?" Naruto asked, genuinely curious.

"I'm not telling you what _he_ is," Sasuke said stiffly.

"Jeez, so touchy! I'm sorry for calling Ryuu an it," Naruto apologized gravely.

"I'm still not telling you."

"Fine, fine. But you need to get up. We need to get showered and get ready to go to Kiba's party," Naruto said as he swung his legs over the edge of the bed, narrowly missing kicking Sasuke's face.

Sasuke just groaned miserably and buried his face in a pillow that had fallen to the floor him. "Why do you hate me?" Naruto was barely able to decipher the muffled mumble.

"Oh you know I love you. Now get in the shower. If you're not in there in five minutes, I'll be coming in and joining you. You know I will," he threatened.

Sasuke shoved up off the floor and stumbled over to the bathroom. "If you actually try to come in here with me, I will not hesitate to chop your dick off. You know I will," he snapped mockingly.

Naruto laughed again. Ah, Morning Sasuke was so much fun!

…

Sasuke found out an hour later as they were heading over to the Inuzuka household that it was going to be a barbeque. He'd never really been to one, so he was a bit wary as to whether he'd like it or not. When he'd told Naruto as much, Naruto had simply turned and gaped at him until Sasuke started screaming and had to grab the wheel from Naruto's slack hands to stop them from being crushed by an oncoming semi truck in the opposite lane. "Watch the fucking road, dumbass," he growled as he tried to calm his racing heart.

"Seriously dude? You've never been to a barbeque?" Naruto couldn't get over this apparent shock.

"It's not exactly something that people of my caliber attend. It's too barbaric, with how messy it is and eating with your hands and whatnot," Sasuke sniffed.

"Oh shut up. Quit acting all high and mighty, you're just uncomfortable. Get over it, it'll be fine! You won't die, I promise," he said dryly.

"Yes, well, if I get salmonella, I'm suing all of you."

"And you wonder why people would say you're the girl," Naruto grumbled under his breath.

"What was that?" Sasuke asked lowly.

"Ehh hehe, I was just saying ah look, we're here!" Naruto said nervously, jerking the car to a stop in front of Kiba's house and making Sasuke fly forward and smack his forehead on the dashboard.

"Fuck!" he yelled, clutching his forehead. Only fear of death kept Naruto from bursting into laughter again.

"Um, sorry Sasuke, I thought the seat belt would lock up like it's supposed to…"

"Whatever, just get out of the damn car. Let's get this over with," he grunted, getting out and slamming his door hard enough to make Naruto wince. Naruto followed, closing his door more gently and giving his car a tender pat and a mouthed 'Sorry about him.'

"Uzumaki! Get moving, I'm not going in without you." If it had been anyone else, Naruto would have said that Sasuke was whining. But he was an Uchiha and guess what, 'Uchihas don't whine'.

They walked up to the house but bypassed the front door in favor of the gate at the side of the house that led to the backyard. Walking in, they found the small group of friends from yesterday as well as a few other people that seemed to be Kiba's relatives gathered around in several small clumps around the yard. Looking around, they found Kiba on the opposite side and headed his way. He didn't see them coming and Naruto took the opportunity to hop onto the birthday boy's back, whooping and hollering like he was riding a ferocious bull in a rodeo. He lasted about 7.9 seconds before he was thrown off. So close.

A woman standing near them started laughing heartily. "Naruto! It's good to see you again!" she exclaimed, helping him up from the ground.

"It's good to see you too Kiba's Mom," Naruto replied with a grin. Sasuke snorted. Naruto would refer to his friends' parents like that. Idiot. "Oh! Right, let me introduce you to my boyfriend, Sasuke Uchiha," Naruto crowed, grabbing Sasuke and yanking him over to stand next to him. Sasuke shot him a glare before turning to look respectfully to Kiba's mom. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. Inuzuka," he said politely.

The woman stared at him then looked to Naruto. "What's his problem?" she asked, jerking a thumb in Sasuke's direction. Naruto smiled. "He can't help it," he explained, "he was raised that way."

Sasuke was completely bewildered. What on earth were these people talking about?

"Lighten up boy! You can call me Kiba's Mom like this lot or just Mom or whatever, no one calls me Mrs. Inuzuka," she said loudly, clapping him harshly on the back and making him stumble.

"Um, yes ma'am, uh, Kiba's Mom," Sasuke muttered.

"Well, that's a start I guess. You boys have fun, I'll catch up with you later!" she said as she went to go talk to another group of people.

Soon all the people who had gotten together yesterday gathered up again. Naruto and Sasuke were a little peeved to see that Neji had decided to come as well. While they all greeted each other, Sasuke was reminded of the problem with the other Hyuuga when he caught her subtly watching him. He cursed to himself. He was going to have to do something today to convince her of his love for Naruto, or whatever it was she was expecting. Think Sasuke, think. What to do? Argh, there was only one thing he could think of, but he really didn't want to do it.

After several more minutes of thinking and panicking under the stare of those pale eyes, he decided he didn't have a choice. He'd already come this far in all of this; he wasn't about to screw it up now. 'Fuck my life,' he thought miserably.

He sidled closer to Naruto as he talked to Kiba, sliding just a little bit closer and closer until he was finally up against Naruto's side, pressing himself between Naruto's arm and his side. He seemed to get the hint and instinctively wrapped his arm around Sasuke and pulled him close while continuing to talk. Naruto didn't seem to realize what exactly had just happened until a few minutes later when Kiba walked off to grab a drink. Naruto looked down and did a double take when he realized that he had his arm wrapped firmly around Sasuke's waist and had the boy plastered to his side. Shit. He retracted his arm like it was on fire. "Sorry Sasuke," he whispered, "I didn't even realize I was doing it."

Sasuke grabbed his arm. "Don't," he hissed. "Hinata is watching us like a hawk; she doesn't believe me at all." He remedied the awkward, hasty arm grab by grabbing and holding Naruto's hand instead. Naruto smiled softly. "Right. Okay, well if we're going to do this, we're going to do it right," he chastised.

"What? What am I not doing right?" Sasuke asked, baffled. He really didn't have a clue as to what to do when it came to real relationships, let alone pretend ones.

"The way you hold someone's hand really says a lot, you know. You're doing the friend hold: Pancake," Naruto explained holding their clasped hands up as Exhibit A. Sasuke observed how the palms were flat together and saw how it could maybe be called a pancake. He nodded softly to show he understood and for Naruto to go on. The blond adjusted his grasp and slid his fingers between Sasuke's so that they interlocked. "This is more of a lover's handhold: Waffle!" he said with a bright smile.

Sasuke saw how this did indeed feel more intimate. How strange, how the placement of fingers in a handhold can create a much deeper feeling of intimacy. He gazed at their tightly clasped hands, noticing how Naruto's tan fingers contrasted quite nicely with the pale skin of the back of his own hand. It was almost…beautiful, like art.

Naruto noticed Sasuke's fascination and chuckled. "Yes Sasuke, those are _hands_," he said wondrously. He laughed again at Sasuke's embarrassed glare before tugging on said hands. "Come on, let's go get some food!"

"That's all you ever think about, isn't it?" Sasuke grumbled as he allowed himself to be tugged along. He couldn't stop himself from glancing down at their hands again. It was just so weird, holding hands with Naruto. It didn't necessarily feel bad, but it was definitely more physical contact than he was comfortable having with anyone at this point. He sighed to himself. Oh well, if he had to forcibly be in physical contact with someone, he'd rather it be with Naruto than anyone else; he was the only person he truly trusted enough to allow it. He knew Naruto didn't have ulterior motives (well, aside from pulling this whole charade in the first place). He knew that he wasn't trying to use him or get into his pants for a quick fuck, nor did he actually have feelings for him, of that he could be sure.

So yes, perhaps he would survive this get together after all. And he'd show Naruto that he didn't shy away from all sexual contact like some timid little girl. Stupid prick. Getting into competition mode would probably be the best way to handle this, he thought with a slowly growing smirk.

They separated momentarily when they got up to the food table so that they could prepare themselves a plate. Sasuke eyed the various assortments of meats displayed on the table. He shied away from the chicken – he'd only been half joking about the salmonella comment. The ribs were way too messy; there was no way he'd be able to eat those in a dignified manner at all. He settled for grabbing a hot dog, some potato salad, and some potato chips. He followed along behind Naruto as he walked with his own (overloaded) plate to a nearby table where everyone else already seemed to be sitting.

Naruto glanced at Sasuke's plate when they sat down. "Really Sasuke? That's all you got?"

"Well excuse me for not housing a bottomless pit like you," he quipped.

"But you didn't even get any real barbeque! You could have at least gotten barbeque chips if nothing else," Naruto grumbled sourly.

"I don't like that stuff," Sasuke said simply, munching contentedly on his plain potato chips.

"Come on babe, please? Just try it," Naruto pleaded, turning big blue eyes in his direction.

Sasuke looked at him and hesitated. It was just food, maybe he could try just a little… "Fine, I'll try some," he said with a sigh, looking away. "But I probably won't like it."

Naruto shot him a grin and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. His hand twitched in an instinctive move to smack his friend but the he remembered. Right. Couple. They were supposed to be one. This was normal. And wtf? Had Naruto called him 'babe'? He'd just gotten so used to ignoring Naruto's stupid pet names that he hadn't even noticed.

Tenten, who was sitting on his other side, picked up a rib from her plate and shoved it in Sasuke's direction. Sasuke merely raised his eyebrows and made no move to take it. "What's up Sasuke? I thought you just said you'd try it," she said, confused.

"Come on, can't you act like a normal person for once in your life?" Naruto complained. He turned to Tenten and said, "You underestimate how truly prissy he is. It's too messy for his royal highness." Naruto grabbed one from his own plate and used his fork to pull the meat off the bone. "Here, princess, you won't have to get your hands dirty anymore."

Naruto had been about to hand Sasuke the fork, but Sasuke grabbed it to stop him. He raised Naruto's hand to guide the fork to his mouth, making Naruto feed him. He closed his lips around the fork and let go of the blond's hand. It stayed there for a few seconds longer before Naruto pulled away, remembering to act like this was a normal occurrence. Now that he wasn't the only one pulling these stunts, Naruto realized how weird this felt too, being caught off guard by affectionate gestures that were supposed to be normal between them. He couldn't say he hated it though; he always had liked surprises.

The rest of their late lunch went quite smoothly. They all worked together to make Sasuke eat some of their food, though the stubborn boy refused to admit to liking any of it. Naruto and Sasuke shared more fleeting touches than they normally would but they kept it subtle. Now that it had been brought to his attention, he did notice how Hinata's gaze would occasionally dart critically to Sasuke. It made him smile to see it, knowing that his friends cared about him so much.

Sasuke started shifting around, trying to get up. Naruto was on the end so he got up then offered his hand to help Sasuke stand. "Where are you going?" he asked as he heaved Sasuke to his feet.

"I had planned to use the restroom. Is that okay with you?" he asked sarcastically.

Naruto laughed. "I suppose so. Don't try to escape though! I'll come after you if you take too long," he said with a wink.

"Oh? Well then, I'll be waiting," Sasuke said back, his eyes half-lidded and smoldering and the corners of his lips curling upwards deviously. When he saw that Naruto just stood there gaping, Sasuke rolled his eyes and walked into the house.

The group seated at the table laughed at the dumbfounded expression on Naruto's face. "Why do you look so shocked that your boyfriend flirted with you, Naruto?" Temari asked curiously.

"I-I'm-just-he _never_ acts like that in front of other people," Naruto finally answered. 'Including me,' he thought. But damn! Sasuke hadn't been kidding when he'd said that he could be sexual. Naruto had to admit that he felt a bit of heat curling in the pit of his stomach, being on the receiving end of that burning onyx gaze. As he looked after Sasuke as he walked across the lawn he noticed how his friend moved elegantly, with the predatory grace of a jungle cat. Huh. He'd always known that Sasuke was attractive, but the man was practically sex on legs. He wondered why he'd never really noticed before. Oh right, it was probably his acerbic personality that overshadowed it.

As he sat there pondering this, he realized Sasuke actually had been gone for a while. He frowned and looked around the yard, wondering if he'd returned and Naruto just hadn't noticed. No, no Sasuke in sight. "Well, it would seem that my dear princess is awaiting his dashing prince," Naruto announced as he stood up.

"Ugh," Kiba groaned in disgust. "I swear if you have sex in my house I'll kill you."

"I won't! Why does everyone think I'm some sexual deviant?" Naruto cried indignantly. He stomped off, grumbling under his breath.

Naruto turned down the hallway where the bathroom was, calling, "Sasuke? What are you doing? I swear, if you've convinced yourself that you have food poisoning from eating a little bit of barbeque then-" He stopped abruptly when he turned the corner. There was Sasuke, body rigid with his back to the wall, and across from him was…"Neji," he said coolly. "I hope there isn't a problem here," he said pointedly.

"I suppose not. As long as you don't mind that your 'boyfriend' over there is a disgraceful slut. I'd be careful with him, he's probably riddled with diseases," Neji drawled.

Naruto traveled the rest of the hallway in the blink of an eye, wrapping one large hand around Neji's delicate neck and slamming him into the wall. "Don't you _dare_ talk about him like that!" he whispered menacingly, tightening his fingers.

Sasuke watched in sick satisfaction as Neji's eyes widened comically. If he couldn't overpower Sasuke then there was no way in hell he'd be able to take on Naruto, and he knew it. When Naruto didn't let up, he started to get a little worried that the idiot might actually kill him. Although he certainly wouldn't mourn, he'd be stuck paying for their apartment on his own if Naruto went to jail so he figured he should probably intervene. As he took his time to walk over to them, he thought of something that would infuriate Neji even more. He didn't particularly like the idea himself, but it would be worth it to see Neji's expression and to further prove to Naruto that he wasn't an asexual being.

He sauntered over to Naruto and wrapped one arm around his waist and put his other hand gently on his shoulder, pressing his body flush against his back. "Naruto, love, don't mind him. He's just jealous," he purred, loud enough for Neji to hear.

Naruto didn't react at all and Sasuke could feel his whole body vibrate lightly as Naruto growled lowly. He must have been way more upset than Sasuke had originally thought. What could have made him so mad that he would zone out like this? He pressed a light kiss to Naruto's neck, saying, "Come on, let him go. Wouldn't you rather hold onto me instead?" He raised his eyes heatedly to Neji's to see him looking both furious and disbelieving.

When Naruto still seemed reluctant to release, Sasuke stroked his back lightly. He felt like he was trying to soothe a giant beast. "Naruto, let go," he said gently, starting to get slightly concerned. Finally, he let go and stepped back, allowing Neji to crumple to the ground. He whipped his head to the side, his eyes searching for Sasuke urgently. When he found him right at his side, Sasuke found himself gathered into a tight embrace, Naruto's back hunched as his face pressed tightly to Sasuke's neck and he breathed in deeply, inhaling his scent.

Naruto raised steely eyes to the disheveled figure rising from the floor. "If you touch him or speak badly of him again, you'd better hope there's someone around to stop me from killing you. I don't want to see you for the rest of the weekend," Naruto said lowly.

Neji scowled. "That is not your decision to make. It's Kiba's party, not yours."

"Bullshit. You hate Kiba. You just want to make sure he doesn't do anything with Hinata because then, God forbid, they'd both actually be happy," he snarled.

The two glared fiercely at each other but it was Neji who broke away with a scoff. "This isn't over Uzumaki, you _will_ pay," he said viciously. "And don't say I didn't warn you about your boy toy either."

As he heard Neji's footsteps recede, he attempted to get out of Naruto's embrace but his arms just tightened. "No," Naruto murmured into Sasuke's neck. Sasuke didn't quite know why he had to shove away a shiver, but it definitely wasn't from Naruto's hot lips on his neck or the husky tone of his voice.

"And why not?" he asked dryly.

"You offered. You said I could hold you instead. If I let you go, I might go after him again," Naruto admitted seriously.

"But why? He didn't even do anything to me this time and I'm more than capable of taking care of myself," Sasuke retorted, getting slightly angry. "I'm not some delicate flower that needs protecting."

"I _know_ that Sasuke!" he barked. "I just, I can't stand it when people wrong my friends, especially not you. When you told me last night about what he tried to do you, I wanted to go hunt him down right then. When I saw him alone with you just now and he said that bullshit about you, I snapped, I'm sorry. I'm just glad you were here to stop me; I don't know what I would have done. I was just so _angry_…" he said, frustrated.

Sasuke released an exasperated sigh. "You idiot," he said fondly, bringing his hands up from where they'd been prone at his side to wrap hesitantly around Naruto's shoulders. He realized that Naruto was quivering lightly and his eyes widened in shock. He was really that affected? It was a weird feeling, knowing that his friend felt this strongly. Weird, but not necessarily bad. It felt good to know that he wasn't wrong in trusting Naruto, that he cared about him this much. He apparently cared enough to kill, he thought wryly.

After a few more minutes, Naruto seemed to calm down and Sasuke patted his back twice before lowering his arms. "Alright, come on before they send a search party after us."

Naruto gave a shaky laugh as he let Sasuke go and raked his hands through unkempt blond spikes. "Right, we just need to make a few minor adjustments," he said to himself before turning a scrutinizing eye towards Sasuke.

"Hmm," he hummed lightly as he tugged a little bit here and there at Sasuke's clothes. When he reached for his hair though, his hand was quickly slapped away. "Don't touch my hair," Sasuke warned with a glower. Naruto did it anyway. "What are you doing anyway?" he asked with an annoyed huff.

"Sexing you up," Naruto said with a grin. "Now you do me," he said suggestively.

Sasuke gave him a pointed glare that spoke volumes more than a stated 'Um, HELL no.'

"Fine, fine, I'll do it myself." He ruffled his hair a little bit more and tugged at his own clothes and slapped at his cheeks to get some color in them. He took a last glance at Sasuke before he remembered something.

"Oh yeah!" he exclaimed as he readjusted the collar of Sasuke's shirt. Sasuke raised an eyebrow at Naruto's smug expression, wondering what he could be so damn proud of. Then he remembered.

"No," he said, going to cover it again. Naruto grabbed his hands before he could.

"Yes," he countered. "You know what they think we've been doing and you don't want to disappoint, right?" he asked with a chuckle. He sobered a bit as he said, "And you don't want them to know about the Neji fiasco."

He was right. "Fine," he said quietly. "But it's a day old anyway, they may be able to tell."

Naruto's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Whaaat? Is this Sasuke trying to tell me that he wants me to give him another hickey?"

Sasuke's face flamed. "Fuck no! Get your head out of the gutter, you moron!" he yelled. "I'm just being realistic," he mumbled.

"Okay, okay. But if you change your mind, I'd be more than happy to give you as many hickies as you want," Naruto said huskily. And surprisingly, he found that he truly would be…

He cleared his throat hastily as his comment was just met with the usual glare. "Anyway, it still looks fairly recent so if we just…" He stepped closer and rubbed at Sasuke's neck over the hickey, making it a nice bright red again. "There! That should work well enough. It's not like they're gonna be inspecting your neck with a magnifying glass. They just have to notice it, that's all."

Sasuke nodded curtly, still not terribly happy about all of this. They walked outside again and rejoined everyone. Naruto was glad to notice that Neji was nowhere in sight. Everyone noticed the hickey and gave Sasuke a hard time about it while Naruto preened and basked in the attention while they chowed down on birthday cake.

A few hours later, after several stupid party games (that Sasuke was forced to participate in as well) and yet more food, Sasuke was waiting for Naruto to finish his goodbyes for the night. He looked to the side and jumped a little bit when he noticed Hinata standing next to him.

"Hinata," he greeted with a polite nod of his head.

She gave him a gentle smile. "Relax Sasuke. And stop trying so hard, I know you truly do care about Naruto," she said, stutter seemingly gone.

Sasuke smirked internally. Score one more for Sasuke Uchiha. "Oh? And how are you so sure?" he asked disinterestedly.

She smiled again. "Because he's the only one you pay attention to. When he talks, every bit of your attention is focused on him. And though you like to pretend like you're always scolding him and insulting him, it's more like your pet names. It shows that you're comfortable enough with him to say whatever you want and know that he'll still be there. And he has your trust, which is an impossible thing to gain from you."

Sasuke was floored. What? None of those things were part of his epic Fool Hinata Plan. He'd underestimated her.

"Sasuke," she said softly through his shocked silence. He grunted to show he was listening. "I think you love him more than you even realize. Maybe you should let down your guard a little bit more and accept that. I can promise you that Naruto would never do anything to hurt you."

He frowned in consternation at the thought. Sasuke begrudgingly retracted the point he'd mentally given himself, the scoreboard now reading Hinata: 2, Sasuke: 0.

As Sasuke opened his mouth to say something, he wasn't quite sure what, Naruto came bounding over to them. "Hey Hinata, I hope you had a good time tonight!"

"I did, thank you," she said. "And you?"

"Of course!" Naruto said, wrapping an arm around Sasuke's waist. "But we've gotta get going. We'll see you tomorrow!" he said with a friendly wave as he and Sasuke made their way back to the car.

Naruto opened the door for Sasuke before walking around to the driver's side and was rather surprised when Sasuke didn't protest being treated like a woman. "You alright buddy?" he asked.

"Yeah, just thinking…" he said absently.

"Uh oh, did Hinata figure us out?" he asked, a little worried.

"No," Sasuke said, shaking his head. "No, she believes us without a doubt now. But not because of anything we did."

Naruto looked at him, confused. "I don't get it."

"Neither do I," Sasuke murmured.

Naruto shrugged and continued driving, humming quietly with the radio and leaving Sasuke to his thoughts.

When they got to the house they went up to Naruto's room, ignoring Kakashi's mumbled greeting and went straight to bed.

"Hey Sasuke, you sure you're okay?" Naruto asked as they both settled down.

"Yeah, I just…I just have a lot to think about," he said.

"Okay, well I'll leave you to that then. Good night Sasuke," he said, shifting to get more comfortable before drifting off.

Sasuke stayed awake a while longer. Why was this even bothering him? Him? In love with Naruto? It just wasn't possible. He was absolutely certain that he wasn't gay. Ugh, if he were…he didn't even want to think about the disgrace it would cause his family. He was the perfect, traditional, _straight_ Asian son, who would help pass down the family name. But no matter how much he kept telling himself all this, Hinata's words still haunted him.

He fell into a fitful sleep that night.

* * *

><p>Next chap in a week, for realsies this time.<p>

Random comments about the past two chapters: I kinda jumped around a lot and didn't make some parts connect and flow like they should. Whoops. I rushed the ending too. Sasuke sure did talk a lot in that last chapter. Idk why I chose to make Neji a bad guy, he was originally supposed to be Sasuke's friend. Ughh, the explanation of how they got together ended up being way too long and so much more boring than I'd planned but that's as good as it's gonna get for now. I changed how Kiba's mom is. So what, my story, she's not a big character, I'll do what I want. I personally love barbeque, so Sasuke's silly thoughts about all that are not my own. I tried to get the sweet, affectionate parts in there while still keeping them friends and clueless, but that kind of got a little bit abandoned by the end.

And if there's a lot of mistakes, I'm sorry, I wrote most of this all just now and haven't taken the time to really read over it. If there's some glaring mistake, please point it out and I'll fix it. I'm just so glad these two chapters are done! Now we can get down to the real fun! :)


	6. The Flushed, Fuzzy Fuddling

Aaaand enter drama! Woo, a relatively long chapter! Hope you like. I originally thought about putting some of this into the next chapter, but I liked how this ended. Unfortunately, that means that the next chapter (which will be coming out next Friday) is a bit shorter, but don't complain because that extra length is right here instead!

Song I like to listen to for the good part of this chapter: Bounce by Timbaland. Come on, tell me that this song doesn't make you wanna get up and go dirty dance all up in herr! God I'm lame…

Warning: there will be a decent amount of cursing in this chapter. If this offends you, you have been warned. Sasuke has a dirty mouth when he's all angry and angsty.

* * *

><p>Sasuke slammed down his fifth large glass of alcohol with a glower. Why the fuck was he here again? Oh yeah, that's right, Naruto's a fucking moron.<p>

Earlier that afternoon, Kiba had gathered the group around to see what they wanted to do for the night. "Let's go see a movie," he suggested first.

"Booooring!" chimed in Temari. "I've already seen pretty much everything that's out anyway. I wanna do something more fun." She got a wicked gleam in her eye before saying, "I know! There's that new club downtown that just opened, we should go there!"

Sasuke scoffed internally. There was no way they were going there, there was only so far he and Naruto could take this little charade and clubbing was definitely a bit overboard. Needless to say, he was quite shocked when none other than Naruto happened to be the first and loudest in agreement. "Yeah! That's a great idea! I can't remember the last time I went to a club!" he yelled, his eyes sparking with excitement. The rest of the group eventually agreed that it was a good idea and started talking about what they were going to do beforehand. With that tic in his eyebrow once again, Sasuke 'gently' smacked Naruto upside the head, causing Kiba to snigger and say, "I like this guy!"

Sasuke ignored the idiot brunette as Naruto turned to him with a glare. "What the hell?"

"Can I talk to you for a moment? Alone." He managed to growl between tightly grit teeth. The surrounding group let out a childish "Ooooooohhh, Naruto's in trouble~." Eyeing him warily, Naruto finally gave in. "Yeah, sure I guess."

Sasuke abruptly turned on his heel and stormed out of the room, Naruto following with an exaggerated sigh. "What did I do wrong now?" he asked nonchalantly.

"Clubbing? Really Uzumaki? I knew you were dumb but what the fuck?" Sasuke ranted with an intense glare.

"What? I know it's not really your scene, but you can handle it for a few hours, can't you?" Naruto replied with a shrug.

"Have you forgotten the small detail that we're supposed to be a couple? I'm not gonna act like some horny dog with you like would be expected."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Jeez Sasuke, stop being such a drama queen, you don't have to do anything. It's not like everyone's gonna jump us just because you don't dance. That's not all we're gonna do anyway, it's just to get away and have a good time, let loose!"

Sasuke just continued to glare. "Oh, wait, I forgot, you don't know how to let loose and have fun. Prickly bastard," he muttered. "We're going, and that's that, everyone's already made the plans, I'm not backing out on them. Just try taking that stick out of your ass for once and enjoying yourself. Besides, Kakashi said this morning that he wasn't going to be there tonight. So we'll have the house all to ourselves," he murmured lowly, with a slow grin. Of course, this was just met with a furious glare.

But his argument had died down considerably once Naruto had pulled his phone out, threatening to call his family. He nursed his refill that he'd scared the waitress into getting him as soon as possible. But he was not sulking. Uchihas don't sulk. He'd already been in a piss poor mood previously because stupid Hinata and her stupid words had caused him to toss and turn all night. Fortunately, the alcohol was dimming that particular inner dilemma.

"Uhh, Sasuke, don't you think you should maybe…slow down?" Kiba asked warily.

Temari smirked. "I don't know, I think I'd be pretty pissed if my boyfriend was out there dancing all over other girls too. You sure you're okay with that?"

"For the last fucking time, I don't care!" he finally yelled. He blamed the alcohol and Naruto's idiocy for his slip in composure.

Temari laughed. "Yeah, I can tell," she said sarcastically.

Reluctantly, Sasuke's eyes slid back to his supposed 'boyfriend' out on the dance floor. He was currently rubbing himself all over some long-haired bimbo, who seemed dead set on getting more than just a dance from the blond. And there was another reason that Sasuke was pissed. Not only was he forced to come here against his will, but now Naruto was making him look like an absolute fool! Couldn't he control his bloody hormones for one night? Now everyone thought he was some pushover who let Naruto do whatever he wanted. They also thought he was extremely jealous. Which was definitely not the case. Yeah, it's annoying to watch him acting like that with some chick he doesn't even know, but he definitely wasn't jealous. He'd actually have to like the idiot for that to be the case. He was just pissed at Naruto for being such a jackass.

The tawdry little whore had just started kissing on Naruto's neck when Sasuke stood up so abruptly that his chair slammed to the ground. "Excuse me for a moment," he said stiffly before marching off.

Temari whooped with a grin. "Whoo! You get him Sasuke!"

Sasuke approached the couple and peeled the girl away from Naruto roughly. "Hey!" she exclaimed. "What the fuck is your problem? Can't you see we're busy here?"

Sasuke's glare was cold enough to freeze a desert. "Not anymore you're not. Get lost, you skanky bitch," he spat. The girl glared back before stomping off to find a new victim to suck the life out of.

Naruto gave him a perplexed look. "Sasuke? What are you doing? That was really rude, we were just dancing."

Sasuke snorted. "You call that dancing? You were practically having sex with her in the middle of the dance floor. You're making me look like a damn fool while you're all over these girls out here."

Naruto was quiet for a moment. "Sasuke, you're acting kind of weird, as in you're mad and yet you're…talking, unnecessarily, in more than one complete sentence. Are you…drunk?" All the times that he had gone drinking with Sasuke, he had never, not even once, seen him get drunk. Sasuke knew he was a light weight and was always very careful not to exceed his limit so as to be sure he did not lose his Uchiha composure. Gawd, what a prick.

"I've had a few drinks, but no I'm not drunk."

The blond rolled his eyes. "Whatever Sasuke. Now I'm gonna go find someone else to dance with since you oh-so-nicely chased my other partner away."

"Pfft. She wasn't even that good," Sasuke muttered scornfully.

Naruto paused and raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? You think you could do better?" he asked with a grin.

He was quite shocked when Sasuke actually answered with, "Think? I know I could. It's not even dancing, it's just shaking your ass at someone else and letting them paw all over you," he said with another snort and a toss of his head.

Yeah, Sasuke was definitely at least a little bit drunk. His grin slowly morphed into a full blown smirk. "Oh? Well then why don't you prove it to me?" he purred lowly. "I bet you can't get me to react," he challenged with a low laugh.

Drunk or not, he didn't expect Sasuke to shrug and smirk right back. "You're on."

It was just real slow and easy at first, just a little bit of swaying of the hips until Sasuke got a little more comfortable. Naruto silently watched from as far away as the crowded dance floor would allow (about a whole foot away), feigning a yawn. Sasuke ignored him. Then his arms started moving with sensual, fluid movements, trailing lightly up his own body then back down. Getting more confident, Sasuke threw him a smirk before dipping his hips low and popping back up with a toss of his dark hair. Naruto's mouth went dry. Holy shit. Sasuke was fucking gorgeous.

Sasuke got a little more creative with gyrating his hips and rolling his whole body with fluid movements, fisting his hands in his own hair and panting softly for effect. Naruto watched on, mouth slightly dry. Of course, a display like this wasn't going to go untouched for long. Another guy, with hair so blond it was nearly white, came up behind Sasuke and slid a hand around his waist. Naruto waited for Sasuke to turn around and punch this guy's lights out for touching him, but instead he sent a (there was really no other way to describe it) _coy_ smirk Naruto's way and let the guy dance with him. Naruto gaped at the pair for all of thirty seconds before he ripped Sasuke out of the other man's grasp, pulling Sasuke to his chest as he grabbed him possessively from behind. That man had been practically molesting his best friend!

"Fuck off," he growled, eyes flashing red. The other man shrugged before continuing on to find a partner who wasn't apparently taken already. When the man was out of sight, Naruto looked down and noticed how one of his hands was splayed across Sasuke's stomach while the other was grabbing his shoulder as his arm wrapped tightly around his chest. He stared at the image his hands all over Sasuke's lithe body made and had to swallow around a rather large lump in his throat as he was struck with how unbelievably _hot_ his best friend was.

"Won't get a reaction from you, huh?" Sasuke asked smugly. He chuckled then went to remove himself from Naruto's death grip. Naruto's hold only tightened, the small amount of alcohol he'd had affecting him slightly as well.

"Don't," he murmured, his lips brushing lightly over Sasuke's neck. He was having trouble remembering that they were just pretending to be together. Why _weren't _they, again? Sasuke was already his best friend and probably among the most gorgeous people on the planet; it was perfect. He was vaguely surprised that he was quite okay with accepting the idea of them together.

Sasuke's head turned as much as it was able in that position, looking at Naruto in irritation. "What's wrong with you?"

"You chased away my dancing partner and don't seem too keen on letting me find another one so you should take responsibility and entertain me." As Sasuke scoffed, Naruto leaned even closer to whisper in his ear, "Besides, you were right; you are a _much_ better dancer than anyone else in here."

Sasuke felt the blood rush up to his face and knew he was blushing. Why? Naruto was just joking around. He did stuff like this all the time, just for the fun of making Sasuke uncomfortable. But at the feel of Naruto's hands gripping his hips tightly as he swayed his own, it didn't seem like a joke so much anymore. Sasuke wasn't quite sure what to make of this new element of their twisted relationship. Yeah, Naruto was probably right in saying that Sasuke wouldn't let him find another dancing partner, but that was only for his own pride not because he wanted to dance with the blond himself. Yet here he was, letting himself move with Naruto.

As the song changed to one with a more sensual beat, Sasuke's mouth fell open with a soundless gasp as he felt Naruto press flush against him grind into him from behind. He heard a deep, guttural groan that reverberated through his own body as his hips instinctively pushed back to meet Naruto's thrusting. Before Sasuke's sluggish, alcohol-clogged mind could comprehend what was going on, Naruto's mouth was on his neck, biting harshly on the junction between his neck and shoulder before soothing it with long, languid swipes of his tongue. Sasuke's breath hitched and a shudder ran through his body, one of his hands coming up to fist in blond hair and cling tightly. One of Naruto's hands drifted from its bruising grip on Sasuke's hip to slip underneath his shirt, ghosting over a taut stomach that jumped and tensed at his touch while the fingers of his other hand dipped shallowly underneath the Uchiha's waistband.

Upon hearing a nearly soundless whine from his friend, Naruto suddenly wanted to see his face, see if he could bring out some kind of emotion on that normally blank face. He grabbed both of Sasuke's hips again and whipped him around to face him. He saw those dark eyes widen in surprise before translucent eyelids fluttered as Naruto continued his grinding, now with full frontal access. Naruto was mesmerized by how beautiful Sasuke's face was right now, with his half-lidded, smoky eyes and his thin lips parted to barely reveal perfect, glistening teeth. If people thought Sasuke with his normal icy mask was stunning, it was nothing compared to the Sasuke before his eyes now. Who would have thought that someone normally so cold could look so…expressive. He could only imagine what the raven-haired man would look like writhing beneath him in the throes of passion. The image was enough to make his pants tighten even more, making him growl and sink his head to Sasuke's neck again to latch on.

Sasuke's head fell to the side as he felt Naruto making his mark on his neck. As the blond sucked ruthlessly at his skin, his hands fell to Sasuke's ass and clutched it firmly, kneading the flesh with his fingers as he once again pulled him flush against his body. Sasuke was unable to stop the moan that spilled from his lips at the friction on his cock as it was trapped between their two grinding bodies. Naruto let out another animalistic, possessive growl and his grip tightened even more as his mouth quested upward. Sasuke felt the hot breath of his partner wash over his sensitive ear and shivered. Naruto nibbled on the lobe of his ear. Hearing Sasuke's soft panting, Naruto clenched his eyes shut, whispering huskily, "Gods Sasuke, you're so fucking gorgeous."

Hearing Naruto's voice snapped Sasuke back to reality. As his brain finally caught up to his body and realized what he was doing and who he was doing it with, he yanked himself violently out of Naruto's grasp, his eyes wide and breathing erratic. Yeah, he was definitely drunk. There was no way he would have let that happen if he had been in his right mind.

Naruto knew that he was probably in big trouble now, but fuck, if seeing Sasuke disheveled, flushed, and panting while sporting Naruto's own mark in plain sight didn't turn him on to the point of aching then nothing did. He realized in hindsight that he should have seen the punch that caught his jaw and sent him stumbling across the dance floor coming from a mile away. As it was, he didn't, and by the time he snapped his head back forward, Sasuke was stumbling towards the doors of the building. Naruto cursed under his breath and followed after him.

…

He needed air. He needed something, _anything_, to clear his head. What the hell was that? He wasn't even gay! Sure, he'd let that other guy dance with him for a little while, but that had just been to throw it in Naruto's face. He didn't think he had been that drunk. "Fuck!" he hissed, gripping his hair and trying to remember to breathe. And fucking Hinata! If she hadn't put those preposterous thoughts into his head!

"Sasuke…" he heard behind him. Sasuke saw red as he whirled around. The next thing he knew, he had Naruto pinned against the rough bricks of the building, his forearm pressing dangerously against Naruto's windpipe. Once again, his body reacted without his mind's consent. This, however, was much more satisfying. He didn't want to kill the loser and have to go through the annoyance of trial and jail time, so he let up slightly so that Naruto could actually breathe. Naruto's breath came in gasps, his eyes wide to the point of bulging. "What the hell is your problem? Are you crazy?" he asked, near hysterical.

Sasuke didn't say a word for a long moment, just glared up into Naruto's face, transferring pure hate through that gaze. But Naruto had known him long enough and well enough to see the traces of confusion, hurt, and fear just barely there. Sasuke did not get this angry unless he felt he had no grasp on a situation, no control. He'd only seen him like this once before and Naruto had narrowly avoided ending up in the emergency room when he'd tried to calm him down. He made sure to appear calm and submissive, though his heart was pounding uncontrollably. Sasuke was legitimately dangerous like this, as he'd been reminded when he'd been deprived of air for the longest thirty seconds of his life; he had actually feared for his life.

"What did you do?" Sasuke asked quietly, his voice dripping with venom. At Naruto's confused stare, he tried again. "What the fuck did you do to me, you son of a bitch?" He raised his voice, pulling Naruto forward a bit only to slam him back against the wall. Naruto's vision was overtaken by white dots as he hissed out a pained gasp. Naruto's patience and guilt was running quite thin now. He slit his own eyes into a dark glare as he reached up and forced Sasuke's arm from his throat, shoving him away. Sasuke stumbled a bit, reminding Naruto that he was probably still somewhat drunk, which would explain why it was relatively easy to get Sasuke off of him. Despite the fact that Naruto was bigger than him and outweighed him by a good 40 or 50 pounds, Sasuke still had the slight upper hand when it came to hand-to-hand altercations with all his martial arts training. When Sasuke fought, it was with deadly fluidity, speed, and grace and lethal accuracy.

"I didn't do a goddamn thing to you, you…INSANE fucker!" Naruto yelled, still in disbelief. "What on earth do you think I've done to you?"

"I'm not gay," Sasuke stated lowly.

Right, _this_ was why they weren't together.

Naruto continued to stare at him. His kneejerk reaction was to scoff and ask if that was really all that he was getting so pissy about. Fortunately, this was one of those rare times where he tactfully held his tongue. He'd been there, down this road of uncertainty, of wondering why you were enjoying something that was supposed to be so wrong. It had been hard for him, and he hadn't even been raised with the traditions that Sasuke had nor had he been trained from birth to always do what was expected and always be in control. He could only imagine how much harder this was for Sasuke. So he took a deep breath and regathered all the patience he could. "No one's saying you are Sasuke. I'm sorry, I got a little carried away," he said, giving Sasuke a way out, letting him blame him for everything if he wanted to.

"I'm not gay," Sasuke repeated, a nearly imperceptible waver in his voice. When Sasuke noticed this, he cursed again. "I'm…I'm drunk. Fuck…" He was never drinking again after this night; it made him do stupid things and made him show his emotions and talk too much.

Naruto chuckled softly, ignoring the dark glare that earned him but keeping a wary eye out anyway. "It would seem that you are. Come on, let's get you back to the house," Naruto said quietly.

This time when Sasuke lunged at him, Naruto was prepared. He let Sasuke hit him once, but then caught the next one and grabbed his wrists to keep him from doing so again as he turned his head and spat out blood. "I'm not going anywhere with you, you pitiful excuse for a friend," Sasuke sneered.

Okay, well that statement definitely hurt more than the vicious punch he'd gotten to the face. If there was one thing Naruto was good at, despite all his screw ups in life in general, it was being a friend. His momentary hitch was enough for Sasuke to maneuver his wrists out of Naruto's grasp. When Sasuke just stood and glared, Naruto looked at the ground, eyes hard. "Just let me get you back to the house and then I promise I'll leave you alone if you want. I just want to make sure you get home safely and that you don't take out your anger on anyone else." With that said, he turned and walked towards the parking lot. Sasuke watched his retreating back for a long moment before letting out a frustrated hiss and following.

Naruto was already sitting in the car with a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel when Sasuke slammed his way into the passenger seat. He eased up his grip a little so that he could start the car and get them moving. The ride there was full of a heavy silence. Naruto felt like he was drowning in it. He'd rather have the yelling and the anger than this terrible silence. Ten long, long minutes later they finally arrived at the house. Naruto drifted into the driveway then cut the engine, making no move to get out and go in. Neither did Sasuke. Naruto heaved a deep, shuddering breath before bringing his forehead down to rest on the steering wheel between his hands, which had resumed their death grip. Sasuke felt a slight tug in his chest as he watched, but furiously pushed that aside. He should be happy that the idiot seemed miserable.

"Sasuke," Naruto started softly. "I'm sorry that I got carried away, I really am." There was no response from his friend. After a few long moments of silence, Naruto stared straight ahead and asked the question that had been nagging at him. "Do you really think that I'm a terrible friend? Have I…" he swallowed thickly. "Have I lost you as a friend?" Sasuke's face twisted in disgust, though whether that disgust was aimed at himself or Naruto he wasn't sure, before he snatched the keys, opened the car door, and stalked to the house.

Naruto pushed himself upright, smacking the back of his head against the headrest of the car seat a few times before savagely punching the steering wheel. He sat there, taking deep breaths as his mind raced before coming to a conclusion. Fuck this, he wasn't completely in the wrong. He shouldn't lose his best friend just because he'd danced with him and now said best friend was confused and blaming him. It was time for Sasuke to get a reality check, Naruto thought with grit teeth as he headed inside.

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><p>In this chapter you may have experienced: a glimmer of hope that our boys are getting together and a frustrating dashing of said hopes, with a pinch of hotness, drama, violence, and angst thrown in there. Like I said, things aren't all of a sudden going to be all sunshine and rainbows between the two, but patience my little duckies, 'twill happen!<p>

P.S. I've reopened by betareading business. So if anyone needs a beta, feel free to ask if I'm interested.


	7. The FaceOff

Bah. This chapter took me forever to write and it's still fairly short. I kept going over and over and over things and trying to get it just right, but I still didn't get it quite how I wanted it. Especially the fight scene. I couldn't write fight scenes if my life depended on it, so I kinda half-assed it, sorry….. Hope you guys like this chapter anyway.

And bad news bears, I probably won't be able to update on my weekly schedule this time because I don't have the next chapter completed yet (because I got distracted by the new story I started...whoops) and I just started an internship that may eat me alive and The Boy is in town for a week so I most likely won't finish it by next Friday, but I'll do my best to finish it ASAP! Sorryyy!

Warning: you have been given a nice glass of water with a dash of lime. Hopefully the spice of flavor will make up for its lack of length…giggity.

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><p>Sasuke was stumbling down the hallway when Naruto caught up with him. Apparently alcohol and confusion did not a graceful Sasuke make. "Sasuke," he called.<p>

"What?" he snapped back, not turning around.

"Fuck man, stop stumbling around and talk to me," Naruto said, getting frustrated.

"Why the hell should I? You'll just make things worse, like you always do," Sasuke grumbled.

Naruto had to shove away the pang in his chest at Sasuke's words. He knew that when his friend was angry, he said things he didn't mean. At least, he hoped he didn't mean them…

"Because I understand what you're going through…" he replied quietly.

Sasuke whirled around, eyes flashing as his hand gripped the wall next to him. "Know what I'm going through? I'm not 'going through' anything. What could _you_ possibly know?" he growled.

"I've been there Sasuke. The confusion, the fear, wanting it all to go away because it's not supposed to feel like that, I went through that too," Naruto said, his blue eyes boring into the black ones a few feet from him, trying to get through to him.

"You know _nothing_," Sasuke hissed venomously, his eyes narrowed to slits. "I'm not like _you_, you pathetic fag," he said maliciously, with a smirk.

Naruto felt his temper snap. "Like me, huh? So this is how you really think of me, that I'm beneath you because I'm not straight? Well, at least I can admit it to myself and everyone around me instead of pretending it doesn't exist and taking it out on others," he snarled.

Sasuke's back stiffened. "What, exactly, are you implying?" he asked in a low tone.

"I didn't _make_ you dance with me. I didn't _make_ you react like you did. And I definitely didn't _make_ you arch your back and moan so prettily," he sneered. "That was all you buddy." Naruto was furious. It wasn't often that Naruto truly got angry, but when he did, he was not to be taken lightly; the beast that normally lay dormant within the gentle giant came roaring to life. You could feel the raw power that emanated from him as his eyes blazed ice blue and his muscles quivered in an effort to restrain himself. The both of them angry and out of control could possibly lead to Armageddon. He almost wished that Sasuke would attack him now, just so that he could have something to pound on and let out this frustration. So they both could.

He saw the stricken look on Sasuke's face before his upper lip curled back in a snarl and he was in Naruto's face, his wish granted. Naruto met him blow for blow. They'd sparred enough together that they knew each other's styles of fighting. This experience was probably the only reason that severe internal injuries and broken bones were avoided because neither of them was holding back.

Naruto knew that Sasuke always seemed to aim for his face or head first when he was fighting out of emotion, so he was ready for the first blow and blocked it easily. He was not, however, ready for the other fist that followed immediately, driving into his gut. Naruto felt his breath leave his body instantly in a whoosh as he gasped brokenly and his eyes widened. Luckily, his almost inhuman reflexes allowed him to instinctively throw himself to the side to avoid further attacks as his body took a few seconds to recover. He crashed into the opposite wall of the hallway, hearing a few picture frames crash to the floor and shatter. Sasuke followed, not far behind.

Naruto narrowly dodged the powerful kick aimed at his chest, which instead punched a hole through the plaster on the wall. He pulled up into a crouch and kicked Sasuke's legs out from under him as he stumbled and tried to regain his balance. Even with his grace diminished by the alcohol, Sasuke still managed to twist midair to land on hands and feet, only to pop back to his feet, giving Naruto time to do the same.

Naruto let out a roar as he let loose a flurry of formidable blows. This was more his style: just barge in with guns blazing and muscle your way through. Sasuke managed to block a majority of those that he didn't dodge. He tried to avoid blocking at this point, however, because his whole body jolted violently with the impact. Eventually, he stumbled and got clipped by an uppercut to the jaw that snapped his head back and left him open to the following bruising blow to his ribs. He hissed in pain and his eyes narrowed as he leapt nimbly out of reach.

They continued in this manner, circling, blocking, and dodging. They may have actually landed few blows, but those that did were felt bone deep.

Finally, Sasuke started to slow down, his body getting to be sluggish as his reserves of adrenaline ran out. When it came to stamina, Naruto could outlast nearly anyone on the planet. He pinned Sasuke's arms to his side to make sure he wouldn't get anymore nasty surprises. "You liked it and that scares you, I get it! Let me help you and quit trying to beat the shit out of me!" Naruto cried out desperately. He didn't want to fight anymore.

He may have been cornered with no other option, but Sasuke still blamed his confusion, the lingering traces of alcohol in his system, and Naruto's damn intensely blue eyes for his next actions. One moment they were staring at each other, Naruto pained and Sasuke glaring heatedly, then the next Sasuke had latched his lips to Naruto's, biting down harshly on his lower lip. Naruto groaned and his body surged forward, pressing Sasuke's into the wall half a foot behind them. Sasuke's head knocked back against the hall with a crack. He didn't pay it much mind, but it caused his teeth to unclamp from their death grip on Naruto's lip. He tasted blood in his mouth. Naruto's blood. He felt an exhilarating rush at the knowledge before he pressed harder against the solid body in front of him, running his tongue along Naruto's bottom lip and lapping up the drops of blood he'd drawn.

Naruto moved his grasp from Sasuke's arms to his wrists, slamming them harshly into the wall near Sasuke's head with a growl. His hips surged powerfully into Sasuke's as he returned the unforgiving kiss. He felt Sasuke's back arch, his taut abdomen pressing into his own, before his hips pushed back roughly in response. Naruto finally ripped his mouth from Sasuke's, breathing heavily and shaking.

"Fuck," he whispered. "Fuck!" he yelled, tightening his grip on Sasuke's wrists brutally and letting his head drop. "You can't do shit like that, Sasuke! It's not fair!" He pushed away violently, letting his back hit the opposite wall behind him and sliding down it until his head was pressed against his knees, his hands gripping his wild blond hair.

"I'm trying…trying _so damn_ _hard_ to be a good friend to you right now, but you're making it ridiculously difficult."

Sasuke watched his friend, not really hearing the words he was saying. Naruto was still shaking. He was trembling and flushed and panting and nearly breaking down. And it was all because of him. He felt that rush of power again, seeing Naruto shudder at his feet. He wanted more, more of this heady high. He was in control again. After having Naruto making him feel like he was grasping at straws, he finally had the upper hand and he wasn't going to let that go. He slowly stepped toward Naruto again. Naruto simply stared up at him helplessly, already pushed against the wall. Sasuke knelt down between Naruto's legs and fisted blond hair harshly, making him wince. He then repeated his previous gesture, their mouths clashing with bruising force, teeth clacking together momentarily. Naruto's hands twitched, aching to hold the warm body in front of him, but he clenched them and made them stay where they were. As Sasuke used the hand not tangled in his hair to coax his jaw open, his tongue searched out Naruto's.

The blond felt his nails cut into his palms with how hard he was trying to resist. His mind was torn. Yeah, Sasuke was the one instigating this, but he knew that if he reciprocated that he may very well truly lose his best friend forever tomorrow. Then again, there's only so much a red-blooded male can handle; this aggressive Sasuke, oozing sex, was more potent than any aphrodisiac, as was evident by the pure fire rushing through Naruto's veins. Every muscle in his body was aching with the effort of restraining himself thus far.

Sasuke, meanwhile, was getting quite frustrated with his apparently lacking success. His eyes stayed open and sharp, seeing how Naruto's were clenched shut painfully tight and how his hands were twitching anxiously at their sides. Naruto still had enough restraint to keep himself in check and that just wouldn't do. He growled into Naruto's mouth before shifting. Sasuke's knees hit the floor on either side of Naruto's hips, hovering over Naruto's lap. He gripped Naruto's shoulder with one hand and used the other to twist the boy's head up to accommodate the new angle without breaking the aggressive lip lock. His tongue sought out his partner's, stroking it sensually.

His only warning was a low, keening whine before that thin thread of control snapped and the demon reawakened. Those large hands enveloped his narrow hips in a bruising grip, forcing him down to sit fully in Naruto's lap, their torsos and hips pressed flush against each other. Naruto ripped his mouth from Sasuke's to clamp down ruthlessly on his shoulder. Sasuke let out a low hiss, dragging his nails across Naruto's scalp. Tanned fingers dug into his ass, making him grind into the hardness pressed right against his own. Sasuke's head fell back, his eyes finally sliding shut as he relished the delicious friction. As good as it was, he didn't allow himself to get lost in it, but was surprised at how difficult that was becoming. His cock was so hard it was aching (another fact that he was rather startled by) and was begging him to forget this stupid game and let it cum. Instead, he concentrated on watching Naruto's reaction to his every move. He started thrusting his hips in time to Naruto's insistent pulls, allowing himself to release the throaty moan that had been clawing at his throat. Naruto seemed to like that, his grip tightening convulsively and his eyelids fluttering as his eyes rolled back.

"Fuck…Sasuke…" he whispered brokenly, his breath hitching in near sobs.

Hearing his name fall from those lips made the heat pooling in his groin multiply a thousandfold, knowing that Naruto was conscious of the fact that it was his best friend that was doing these things to him.

He felt Naruto's teeth unclamp from his shoulder so that he could bury his head in Sasuke's chest before his hands left their place at his hips to engulf him in a crushing embrace. The blond's hips rose frantically to meet Sasuke's and within a few thrusts, Sasuke felt the guttural groan reverberating throughout his whole body as Naruto released. When Sasuke realized what happened, what _he himself_ had caused to happen with only a little kissing and dry humping, he came as well with a sharp gasp.

Sasuke looked down with hooded eyes to see Naruto clutching him like he was his last lifeline to this very earth, once again shuddering violently. That he could reduce this powerful man to nothing with a few touches… it was akin to having one of the gods themselves trembling at his fingertips. He'd won.

As soon as he smirked triumphantly at this thought, he promptly passed out.

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><p>Maaa! I actually ended up kinda liking this after all. Drama and smexiness, what more is there to life? And there is yet more drama* to come. I tried to make it good without going too far; this was more about continuing the power play on a different level rather than seeking pleasure. Anyway, stay tuned for next week's episode!<p>

*drama – read: angsty!Sasuke appearing, flipping out, and attempting to ruin everything good in his life


	8. The Faded Flashback

No, I did not fall off the face of the earth, nor did I abandon this story. I have lost a lot of the momentum and enthusiasm I had for it, but I will finish it, I promise. There just won't be regular updates, I'm extremely busy this semester. And yes, I know this chapter's is kinda short and annoying and sooo not worth the wait, but hey, at least it's something! Anyway, sorry for the long absence and here's chapter 8.

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><p>Sasuke was slammed back into consciousness a couple hours later. He was immediately aware of several things: his head was throbbing, his mouth felt like a giant wad of cotton and tasted vile, his body ached, and he had no clear recollection of events of the night before. This, of course, could only mean that he had gotten absurdly drunk the previous night, something he usually avoided like the plague. "Fuuuuck," he groaned, dropping a hand over his eyes and rolling over. After a couple of minutes of wallowing in his misery, his hand flopped off his face and back to the bed. When his eyes peeled open, he leapt about a foot in the air and let out a high-pitched squeak, barely refraining from screaming outright.<p>

He flew backwards and fell onto the floor beside the bed. What the hell was Naruto doing here? He looked around anxiously, confused, but it all clicked a few seconds later. Oh, right. He was at Naruto's house, and they were supposed to be leaving today, thank God. He shook his head slightly, glad that the moron wasn't awake to witness his moment of insanity. He had enough blackmail on him as it was, he didn't need to add to it. Okay, so he remembered why he was there in general, but how exactly had he gotten to the bed? The last thing he remembered was going to that stupid club last night, and even that was rather fuzzy. Why the hell had he drank so much?

As he sat on the floor, contemplating this question, he suddenly realized that his bladder was about to explode. He heaved himself up with a grumble, swaying a bit before righting himself and heading in the direction of the bathroom, using the wall to steady himself. After going about his business, he realized a shower would probably be a good idea. He clumsily stepped out of his clothes and into the shower, simply standing beneath the warm spray for a long while. Ahh, that was nice…

He rinsed out his mouth and half-heartedly went through the necessary showering tasks then simply enjoyed the hot water on his aching body again before finally shutting off the water. With a heavy sigh, he stepped out of the shower, absently grabbing a towel from the rack next to the shower. He walked over to the mirror as he toweled off his hair, not caring if he dripped water all over the floor along the way. As he moved the towel away from his head, Sasuke drew in a sharp breath as he finally got a good look at his reflection. Jeez, had he been beaten by a gang of thugs or what?

There were bruises all over his body, along with a few gashes here and there. How all these had gotten there, he still had no recollection. He peered at his reflection in disbelief before looking down at himself and confirming that no, the mirror was not lying to him after all. He started looking more closely, cataloguing all the blemishes on his body.

Oh. My. God. Were those _hickies_ on his neck? And…and finger marks on his hips? His blood ran cold as he reevaluated the aches in his body. After thinking about it, he didn't think he felt any particularly…unnatural pains in his lower back area. The relief he felt at the fact that he hadn't been violated in his drunken state was indescribable.

That still didn't answer any question, however, about what really did happen. Obviously he had been at least slightly intimate with someone. He sat down heavily on the lowered toiled seat, trying to push his aching brain to its max.

Okay, so what was the last thing he remembered? Right, getting to the club. He had joined Naruto's friends at a table, where they'd ordered a few drinks and chatted. Well, everyone else chatted and Sasuke added his input only when it was strictly necessary. Once Naruto had gotten slightly buzzed, he'd headed out to the dance floor. Of course, Sasuke hadn't followed, so that left Naruto to dance with other unsuspecting victims, which led to everyone talking about how jealous they'd be if _their_ significant other had been out there dancing all over other people.

He'd tried to tell them he wasn't jealous without making it look like he honestly didn't give a damn what his idiotic friend did (because he really didn't). Even if he'd managed to convince them of that (which he hadn't), it still made him look bad that he let his 'boyfriend' touch other people like that while he sat there and did nothing. And _no one_ makes an Uchiha look bad.

So Sasuke being Sasuke, had simply brooded and nursed his alcohol and tried to ignore everything going on. Apparently he had nursed a little too much alcohol because after that point, memories of events were either extremely fuzzy or nonexistent. He did remember getting angry to the point of explosion, which had probably led to him doing something incredibly stupid.

He sat down heavily on the closed toilet lid and put a hand to his aching head. Come on Uchiha, think, think, think! This was ridiculous; he felt like he was having a Winnie the Pooh moment here. Stupid, misleading cartoon bear, this method was doing nothing for him.

Plan B: "Okay Sasuke, take a deep breath, clear your mind and calm down," he muttered to himself, trying desperately not to think about what a nutter he seemed like right now. He did as he coached himself, hoping against hope that _something_ would come to him.

Success! He was starting to remember bits and pieces now, small flashes of the events of last night. There was a flash of him pinning Naruto by the neck against a grimy brick wall, he and Naruto fighting in the hallway, then, then…Naruto pinning him against the wall and shoving his tongue down his throat? Sasuke felt the blood drain from his face, his fingers going numb. Naruto was the one who gave him those hickies?

He tried remembering more, but he couldn't get past that one image. He gripped his hair harshly. No way. There had to be another explanation. There was no way his best friend had lost control and tried to take advantage of him when he was drunk! He'd said he wouldn't do things like that with him…

How far had it gone? Naruto obviously didn't…go all the way with him, as he'd determined earlier, but he couldn't bring himself to even try to remember that anymore.

His chest ached and he grabbed at it with hands that he realized were shaking. He recognized this feeling: betrayal. He'd felt it many times before, but he never would have dreamed that he'd feel it because of Naruto, the perfect friend.

He couldn't stay here; he had to get out, now. He scrambled to pull his phone out of where it was still in his pocket.

The fingers of one hand tapped incessantly on the counter as he struggled to keep himself in control while the other jabbed a speed dial button on his cell phone. His heart pounded as the phone continued to ring. As it rang an eighth time, a rather large lump formed in his throat. He was spared his hysterics, however, as a thick voice answered before the final ring ended.

"Somebody better fuckin' be dying," was the growled greeting.

Sasuke snorted. "Not exactly," he said dryly, this little bit of normal interaction helping to calm him slightly.

Angry, impatient silence followed.

Sasuke sighed. "Itachi. I…need a favor," he said hesitantly.

"At 4:30 in the morning?" his brother grumbled, but he could tell that most of the malice was gone from his tone.

"Yeah. Can you come get me?" he grudgingly asked.

"Where the hell is your own damn car?" Itachi asked irritably.

"I didn't drive here myself," he answered.

"Well then get whoever drove you to take you. I don't understand what the problem is here," he said snidely.

"I really don't think I can be around him right now," Sasuke said quietly.

There was a moment of silence. "Naruto?" He took Sasuke's answering silence to be an affirmative. He scoffed. "Fuck, Sasuke, you guys do this all the time. Suck it up and just fight it out like you always do. I have to be to work in two hours, I'm going back to sleep for half an hour. Bye."

"Itachi!" Sasuke found himself crying out before he could stop himself. That stupid, persistent lump in his throat had reappeared and his eyes burned viciously. He listened anxiously to see if his brother had hung up or not. The pause that followed seemed to last an eternity.

"Sasuke?" he questioned softly.

"This isn't the same. I don't know if it can be fixed this time. I…I really need you. To come get me," he added hastily. When there was silence yet again as his answer, he felt like kicking himself in the face when he let out a broken "Please?" Someone please just chop off his balls to complete the desecration of his manly Uchiha pride.

There was a heavy sigh and a loud rustling from the other end as Itachi presumably got out of bed. "Where are you?" he asked shortly.

When Sasuke told him, there was another pause. "Sasuke, that's over an hour away. There's no way I'd be able to make it to work on time."

Sasuke grit his teeth. He knew this wouldn't work. "Never mind," he said bitterly. "You're right, sorry. I'll figure something out. Thanks anyway."

As he went to hang up, he heard Itachi curse and brought the phone back up to his ear with a wild rush of hope. "Dammit Sasuke. I'll be there in about an hour and a half. You'd better have a good reason for all of this, or I swear I _will_ kill you."

Sasuke hung up before he could rescind his offer.

Naruto stretched languidly as he drifted back to the world of the living, slightly disappointed at the lack of the cuddle buddy he'd acquired the past two nights. Looking to his side, he saw that Sasuke wasn't in bed at all. He shrugged and smiled slightly, thinking he'd probably woken up earlier and was nursing a killer hangover in the bathroom. He laid there for a few more moments before he forced himself to roll out of bed and look for Prince Charming.

He ambled down the hallway to the bathroom with a casual morning butt scratch and a yawn, but found the door to be wide open and the room empty when he got there. He pouted to himself, disappointed that he didn't get to bang loudly on the bathroom door to aggravate an angry, hungover Sauce-Cakes. Where'd he go? Maybe he had gone down to the kitchen to get himself some breakfast. He shrugged as he occupied the bathroom to relieve himself and brush his teeth before returning to his room.

He was in the middle of pulling on some shorts when he noticed that Sasuke's bags weren't in his room anymore. He paused, his gut churning; he had a bad feeling about this. No, he was just being silly, where could Sasuke possibly have gone? He was probably just packed already and waiting to leave, he'd made it pretty clear that he was anxious to leave as soon as possible. He finished dressing before heading downstairs, probably a little faster than strictly necessary. His heart started beating a little faster when he didn't see Sasuke or his bags in the living room or by the front door, and he was on the verge of a panic attack when he wasn't in the kitchen either. A quick check of the rest of the house and the back yard reinforced that Sasuke wasn't there.

Sasuke was gone.

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><p>AN: Yes, I know that Sasuke should have noticed...remnants of certain events the night before, that's explained later, I promise! I didn't just forget about it.


	9. The Friendly Fellowship?

Wow, I didn't realized it had almost been a month since my last update... My bad guys. School, school, and more school. You can blame that. Oh. And The Boyfriend moved, so that he's only two hours away rather than 10 states away, so I've been spending time with him too :)

Anyway, here's chapter 9. It's all Naruto stuff, angst and drama and an interesting ending...

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><p>Naruto was tired of acting like everything was fine. He was good at it, he knew; he'd had a lot of practice throughout his life. But all their friends had obviously noticed that he and Sasuke no longer had any interaction whatsoever and they were starting to realize that this wasn't just another one of their stupid fights. And he couldn't really tell them what had happened without revealing things that Sasuke would probably kill him for. When they started to really pester him about what was going on, all he'd say was that he'd screwed up, that it was his fault. He owed Sasuke that much at least.<p>

He hadn't seen Sasuke at all since that weekend two weeks ago aside from brief glimpses across campus, but even those were rare. Sasuke knew all his habits, his class schedule, and where he liked to go, so it was easy for him to go about avoiding him. At this point, every day was like a vicious cycle for Naruto:

1. Be angry at Sasuke for leaving and acting completely ridiculous

2. Feel guilty for getting angry at him; this is a difficult time for Sasuke!

3. Feel ashamed of himself for what he'd done when Sasuke was drunk

4. Pull himself out of self-hate spiral and feel self-righteous instead – it wasn't _all_ his fault!

5. Repeat steps 1-4

All in all, he was emotionally exhausted and it was getting tiresome having to be 'happy' when his best friend was ignoring his entire existence. He was getting run down and he knew it. As it was, he was currently lying on his couch, feeling no motivation to do anything whatsoever. He heaved a sigh and rolled his head to the side to stare at his cell phone sitting on the coffee table three feet from his face.

He knew better than to try to call Sasuke; after leaving about 45 messages, he'd called again only to find that his number had been disconnected. This was actually a fairly common occurrence since Sasuke often gained very persistent stalkers, but usually when that happened, he'd always leave a note or text him his new number. That obviously wasn't going to happen this time and he couldn't bring himself to ask his friends for it. How would he explain to them that _he_ was Sasuke's stalker?

No, he wouldn't call Sasuke. He'd been stuck in step three for a long time, so he'd rather call someone who didn't hate his guts instead. He reached for his phone like it was the most difficult task he'd ever had to do in his life before punching his speed dial number 5.

"…Hello?"

"Hey, man," Naruto said lightly. "What are you up to?"

"Nothing. What's wrong Naruto?"

Naruto only paused for half a second. "What? Nothing! Why would you think something was wrong?"

"You never call me during the day in the middle of the week," was the monotonous answer.

Oh. Right. Most people have classes right now. He laughed sheepishly. "Ehhh, well, nothing much really. Sasuke and I just had a fight and I wanted someone to talk to that I know would be on my side," he said, which wasn't completely a lie.

"What happened?" his friend asked.

"Um, well, I don't know that I can really tell you…" he said.

There was a long silence. "I'm sure things will be okay. You're a good person, you'll figure this out. And if he tries to leave you, then he's not worth it anyway," Gaara said in a rare moment of verbal kindness.

As generic as the answer was, it made Naruto smile slightly. He could always count on Gaara to be brutally honest with him, so when he said something like that, Naruto knew that he truly meant it. It wasn't enough to lift his heart from where it had taken permanent residence beneath his shoe, however.

He swallowed thickly, but managed to force a laugh. "Yeah, you're right. Forget him, right?" If only he could. "I've gotta get to class so I'll talk to you later, Gaara, thanks," he said, hanging up the phone quickly. He wasn't going to class today.

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><p>For what was probably the millionth time since he'd gotten back to their apartment, he loomed in front of Sasuke's closed bedroom door. For the millionth time, he was torn between wrenching the stupid thing open and continuing to pretend that the room just didn't exist. For the millionth time, the bright white of the door seemed blinding, sending white hot heat searing straight through to the back of his skull. For the millionth time, his stomach dropped to the floor and his shoulders sagged as if under a terrible burden. Depression. Guilt.<p>

For the first time, he opened the door.

He stood in that doorway, frozen. All his things were still there, just as he'd left them before they'd left that weekend. It nearly made him expect to have Sasuke appear behind him, smack him on the back of the head, and call him an idiot before telling him to get out of his room. But Sasuke had been going to such great lengths to avoid him that he hadn't been back in these past two weeks, not even to get clothes, school work, or his laptop.

He scoffed at himself as he realized his hands were clenched so tightly that he was shaking slightly. What was his problem? He shook himself and strode confidently into the dark room. Once he was inside, however, he didn't know what to do. What had been the point of this? The only reason he'd ever come in here before was to pester his best friend, who obviously wasn't here. He guessed he'd been hoping to find some kind of sign or something. How stupid.

He plopped down onto the bed and took the time to look at each and every thing in the room. He still didn't know what he was looking for. His gaze fell on Sasuke's portable CD player, his huge, noise-blocking headphones lying haphazardly across the top of it. It brought a half-hearted grin to his face, remembering how he'd always tease Sasuke about having a CD player in the Age of iPods. Sasuke would always snootily reply that he did have an iPod, but occasionally he liked to use this instead. He never did really give a reason why.

Naruto leapt up and crossed the room, his hand slightly hesitating before snatching up the player and headphones. Sitting back on the edge of the bed, he mashed the play button. He listened to the opening guitar chords and could tell that it wasn't some kind of upbeat, happy song, which matched his mood for the past couple weeks. Then again, it was Sasuke Uchiha; he'd never be caught dead listening to something happy and upbeat. Emo prick.

He watched the tree outside Sasuke's window sway through the continuous smattering of raindrops on the windowpanes. He hadn't even noticed that it was raining until then. A humorless chuckle escaped him as he realized this was like some cliché scene from a low-budget, tweenage girl movie, what with him listening to some sad song and gazing longingly at the rain through the window. And of course, the lyrics of the song fit the whole situation pretty well so as to be the proper background music to complete the scene, he thought as he listened. The song consisted, of course, of a guy lamenting the loss of someone important and how he was all hurt and it was all his fault.

A surge of rage suddenly rushed through him, his whole body shaking with the force of it: enter step four once again. Why the hell were everyone's problems always his fault? He ripped the headphones off his ears and hurled the CD player at the wall where it broke with a satisfying crunch. His eyes landed on Sasuke's desk next and with a roar, he leapt up and swept everything from it onto the floor. The bookshelf was next as he tore through everything on the shelf, pitching it all heavily to the ground. As he was in the process of tearing all the posters from the walls, he heard someone clear their throat.

He whirled around, ready to tear into Sasuke, give him a piece of his mind. What exactly he was going to say, he didn't have a clue, but it was going to be said very loudly. He stopped abruptly when he found that the pale figure in the doorway wasn't actually Sasuke. He stared, his mouth still open and poised to start shouting before snapping it shut and cocking his head to the side.

"Gaara? What are you doing here?" he asked, perplexed.

"Watching you tear up what I assume is Uchiha's room," he replied dryly. "Any particular reason for that?"

Naruto continued to stare dumbly. "How…how did you know where I live? And how did you get in? And how did you get here so fast? I just barely got off the phone with you a few minutes ago."

"You gave me your address so I could send you things, the door was unlocked, and you actually called me a few hours ago," Gaara answered.

Naruto was floored. Had he really been zoning out/moping that long? Wow, there was really something wrong with him. "So…why are you here?" he finally asked.

"Naruto, I've known you a long time. I could tell there was something wrong and you weren't having anyone else help you with it, so I came." He took another look around the room before arching an eyebrow and saying, "And I'd say that I was right about you needing help. You're going nuts."

Naruto let loose a small chuckle at that. He sighed and ran a hand roughly through his hair. "Yeah, you're right. I think I'm losing my mind," he said as he sat heavily on the bed again. Gaara came and sat silently next to him. Naruto leaned into him and rested his head on his friend's shoulder.

"I'm glad you came," he said quietly.

"What happened?" Gaara asked again.

Naruto released his breath in a frustrated huff. "I don't know, Gaara. I screwed up. I screwed up bad," he whispered.

Gaara just waited. Naruto didn't disappoint.

"Screw it, it's not like you're gonna go telling anyone. I pretty much molested Sasuke when he was drunk," he finally admitted.

Gaara blinked at him. "And that was so terrible…why?"

"Because he's not gay! And I promised him I wouldn't try anything on him!" Naruto exclaimed, aggravated.

When Gaara continued to be silent, Naruto realized what the problem was. "Shit. Yeah, we're not actually together, it was just a stupid ploy that I blackmailed him into going along with. We're actually just friends, and he's definitely not in any way gay," he explained. "At least I never thought he was before…" he added quietly.

"But something happened," Gaara stated.

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, something happened. At the club, he got drunk and refused to let me dance with anyone but him and he actually danced with me! And not like ballroom dancing, I can assure you. This was the down and dirty, sex on the dance floor kind. At least, it was getting to that point before he realized what he was doing and bolted. I followed him and tried to talk to him and he beat the shit out of me. I finally managed to convince him to let me take him home. We fought again then ended up dry humping in the hall until we…you know… Then he passed out, I cleaned him up, redressed him, and put him to bed before passing out myself. When I woke up he was gone and he's been refusing to see me or talk to me since then."

Gaara was quiet for a little while before asking, "Did you hold him down while you got yourself off?"

"What the fuck?" Naruto exclaimed angrily. "Of course I didn't!"

"Okay," Gaara replied neutrally. "Did you even start any of it?"

"Well, no, not really. Sasuke was actually pretty aggressive himself," he said with a light blush.

"I figured as much," Gaara muttered. "Naruto, look at me," he commanded. Naruto reluctantly did so. "That wasn't your fault," he said firmly when he knew he had his attention. "No," he said when Naruto opened his mouth to argue. "Uchiha instigated all of it. I'm sure you even tried to say no and resist it before giving in, but you didn't do anything that he didn't want. He's just a wuss and refuses to take any of the responsibility for it."

Naruto frowned. "Don't talk about him like that Gaara, you don't understand what –"

"Maybe not," Gaara interrupted, "but I do understand that you both are to blame and it's not right of him to think it's all your fault."

Naruto pushed back from his friend and glared. "You don't even know if that _is_ what he thinks, no one _ever_ knows what he's thinking. You have no idea whether he's blaming me for everything or not," he argued.

"…Why are you so defensive of him?" Gaara asked.

"Because he's my best friend! We've been together for the past five years!" Naruto yelled.

"Is that it?" Gaara asked softly.

Naruto blinked, the angry expression falling from his face. "…What?"

"You know what I mean, Naruto."

"Do you mean…no. You're not trying to say you think I'm in love with him, are you?" he asked unbelievingly, chuckling at the impossible implication. His laughter started dying when Gaara continued to stare expectantly at him.

"No, I couldn't possibly be in love with him! He's my best friend, Gaara!"

Gaara stared some more, his 'you're so dense, how do you even survive' expression on his face.

Naruto flopped backwards to lie on the bed, one arm falling over his face. "Fuck. I really hate you sometimes," he muttered. "Sometimes there's a reason I refuse to understand something, you know."

"Well, you accepted it pretty quickly. You must have been thinking about it."

"More like trying my best _not_ to," he grumbled. "Now that you've finally made me admit it to myself that it might be a possibility, I can't keep living in denial," he whined.

They were both quiet for a while before Naruto said, "This really just makes things harder."

Gaara leaned back to lie next to him but was otherwise quiet.

Naruto uncovered his face and turned his head to look at his friend. "It already hurt when I thought it was just my best friend that wished I'd die a fiery death. What do I do if I admit to myself that there's a teeny tiny possibility that I _might_ love him?"

"If he's going to act like this over something that was his fault to start with, I say fuck it," Gaara said with a nonchalant shrug.

Naruto laughed and rolled towards Gaara to throw an arm around him and rest his chin on the other boy's shoulder. "You sure do have a way with words Gaara." He grinned and Gaara's lips twitched upwards a bit.

"Argghhh!" Naruto suddenly growled. "Why couldn't it be you I liked instead of that prick? As scary as you are, you're a much better friend."

Gaara's gaze abruptly intensified. Green eyes bored into blue as he suddenly got closer. "Why not indeed?" he whispered.

Naruto froze. "W-what?"

"Why not try me? I'd show you a much better time than that child."

"Why are you always talking so negatively about Sasuke like that?" Naruto asked, avoiding the proverbial elephant in the room.

"My opinion is probably biased because he's taking what I want and doesn't even want it," Gaara explained coolly.

"Gaara," Naruto murmured. "You…like me? Like that?" he asked, seeing that Gaara obviously wasn't going to let this go.

"I don't hang out with you because of your brains, I can assure you," he growled.

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed. "Gaara, I…I don't know what to say…"

Gaara scoffed. "It's not like I expect you to profess your undying love for me. I think you're attractive, and you need a distraction. You can pretend I'm Uchiha if you want."

Naruto scowled. "I wouldn't do that, that's just cruel. And what are you talking about, pretend you're Sasuke? How could I be in a relationship with you and pretend you're someone else?"

"I'm not talking about a relationship, Naruto," he said lowly, shifting even closer and settling a hand on Naruto's hip.

"Oh." Naruto swallowed loudly. "Gaara, I can't…" he said weakly, even as his hand snuck around Gaara's waist.

"Yes you can Naruto," Gaara whispered roughly. "It's beneficial to both of us, quit worrying."

"I don't know…I really don't think I can…" he tried to protest, but he didn't pull away as Gaara's lips met his…

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><p>Yeah, so please don't kill me? I used so many ellipses. It's ridiculous, I should probably be shot. Anyway, so I'm thinking there's probably a max of five chapters left after this? I don't know for sure, I really only have a slight idea of where this thing is going, it's kinda just taking off on its own. Btw, OOC Gaara. My bad again. Too lazy to really do too much about it. And, even more awesome, I have no idea when I'll be able to update again : But let me know what you think!


	10. The Falsely Framed

Wow! I really enjoyed all the different responses from last chapter. Some people were like WOOHOO! Go for the sex scene! And others were like NOOOO! Why would you DO this to me? I guess I kinda took the middle ground? You can see for yourself.

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><p>Naruto inhaled sharply as Gaara's lips descended upon his. He whimpered softly, knowing he really shouldn't do this, yet he did nothing to stop it. He'd been so weak lately; he needed this comfort and affection after the past two weeks. Gaara took advantage of Naruto's immobility and pushed forward, his small hands pinning Naruto's giant ones above his head. As Gaara continued to kiss him persistently, Naruto's body gave up its resistance; he just didn't have the strength to deny himself anything at this point.<p>

His fingers twined with Gaara's and gripped tightly as he lifted his head to get a better angle and kiss back desperately. He felt Gaara's lips twist up briefly before they opened and his tongue swept into Naruto's mouth. Naruto groaned deeply, his fingers tightening spasmodically. Gaara abruptly released Naruto's hands, running his own down Naruto's body to rest firmly on his hips. He moved from Naruto's lips to his neck, sucking viciously. Naruto's head dropped back and his mouth fell open in a soundless cry, his back arching as his hands flew to tangle themselves in Gaara's hair. Gaara's fingers slipped deftly beneath Naruto's shirt and beneath the waistband of his sweatpants, pressing his thumbs into the hollows of Naruto's hipbones. The sensation shot straight to his growing erection.

As Gaara's mouth traversed the planes of Naruto's neck and shoulders, he moved one hand to palm the bulge in Naruto's pants. "Hah-Ah!" Naruto's hands pulled at Gaara's hair as he gasped and let out a sharp cry.

"That's right Naruto," Gaara said lowly into his ear. "Just let go."

But even as his body tried to make his mind forget, all he could think about was how wrong everything was. The hair gripped in his hands was too short. The hands that touched him were too small and calloused. When his eyes slit open, the eyes that looked back at him were the wrong color, the skin a little too pale. The voice that spoke to him was too low, too husky.

He tried so hard not to and he hated himself for it, but he couldn't help it: all he could see, burned into the back of his closed eyelids, was Sasuke. Tears of frustration, anger, and confusion leaked from his tightly shut eyes.

Gaara's hands stilled and he sighed heavily before pushing off of Naruto and sitting next to him, facing the wall with his hands in his lap. Naruto's eyes opened slowly.

"W-why'd you stop?" he asked, even as he found himself slightly relieved that he had.

Gaara gave him a sideways glare. "I'm not so much of a jackass that I'll force myself on a crying man," he said quietly.

Naruto's hand reached up to touch his own face, seeing for himself that it was indeed wet. "Oh. Sorry," he responded, just as quietly, averting his gaze.

"No, don't do that. I was taking advantage of your moment of vulnerability. I apologize."

"I just… I don't… I can't…" Naruto just shook his head. "I'm sorry," he said again.

"I know," Gaara said simply. "I won't try anything like that anymore tonight, but I am going to stay with you. You're a mess."

"Thanks," Naruto said, laughing shakily even as the tears started to flow faster and his breath came in sharp hiccups. Gaara wordlessly grabbed him and wrapped his arms around him. Naruto just started sobbing, gripping Gaara's shirt tightly. Gaara sighed once again and rubbed Naruto's back gently.

Several minutes later, Naruto drifted off to sleep. Gaara pulled his and Naruto's shirts off, knowing Naruto didn't usually like to sleep in his then tucked him into bed. He knew he also didn't like sleeping in his pants either, but he figured he'd be better off leaving that be. Once he got Naruto settled, he laid beside him, making sure to give his friend space before falling asleep himself.

…

Naruto started to wake up as he felt something shift next to him. Where was he? And why was his head pounding like this? He hadn't gotten drunk last night had he? He peeled his eyes open and took a proper look around him. Was he in…Sasuke's room? Why the heck…wait. There was someone in bed next to him. No way, Sasuke had been avoiding him like the plague, why would he be in bed with him?

He turned towards the person as they stood up and got out of bed. His heart stopped and his breath caught in his throat as he saw a vast expanse of pale skin. "Sasuke…?" he murmured as he pushed himself up, confused. As the person turned around, he was able to tear his eyes away from the pale back to see that it very obviously was not Sasuke, but Gaara.

Of course, that's right, he'd had a breakdown and Gaara had come over to help him then…he flushed. God, he'd been so weak. And then after that he'd bawled like a little baby until he fell asleep. No wonder he had such a pounding headache, he hadn't cried like that in years.

"No, not Sasuke, sorry," Gaara replied quietly, a slight edge in his tone. "I'm going to take a shower first. You should probably work on getting yourself up as well."

Naruto flopped back onto the bed with a groan. "Ughhhh, can't you just let me die in peace?"

Gaara's lips twitched upwards in a ghost of a smile. "Glad to see your somewhat back to normal," he said as he walked off towards the bathroom.

Naruto just grumbled to himself and buried his head in his pillow, refusing to wake up fully.

As he was starting to doze off again, he heard Gaara walk back towards the room before stopping with a small gasp. "What?" Naruto grumbled irritably, he really wasn't in the mood for a lecture about getting up properly. When he didn't receive an answer, he turned his head to glare at his friend. His eyes nearly popped out of his head at what he saw as he shot upright in bed.

"Sasuke…" he whispered, absolutely positive that it was him this time; there was no mistaking that styled, jet black hair or those obsidian eyes burning in rage and confusion.

"What the _hell_ is going on here?" Sasuke finally asked, his voice dangerously quiet as he looked around. "What did you to do my room? And why are you in my bed? Are you naked? And is…" Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he looked at Naruto again. "That's a fucking fresh hickey."

Naruto's eyes widened even more as his hand flew up to his neck. "Sasuke, I-" he started but was cut off.

"I come home to get my things to find that not only did you completely trash my room, but you fucked some other guy in _my_ bed?" he accused furiously. Sasuke was livid. His eyes were practically spitting fire, his cheeks were flushed, and his shoulders were heaving.

Naruto grimaced before trying to explain. "No, it's not like that. I just – wait, I understand why you'd be upset about all this, but the way you say it, you sound like you're jealous," Naruto pointed out, baffled.

"Excuse me?" Sasuke said incredulously. "Jealous of _what _exactly_? _I'm not jealous of anything!_"_

"Of me supposedly fucking some other guy, which I didn't by the way."

Sasuke snorted. "Well if you didn't fuck him you were obviously doing something more than friendly," Sasuke said scathingly.

"See?" Naruto exclaimed. "Right there! Why do you care what I do with other guys? You've made it quite clear that you want absolutely nothing to do with me!"

"That's right," Sasuke snarled back. "I don't want to have anything to do with a guy who takes advantage of me when I'm drunk and who obviously doesn't actually give a damn about me; you just ignored what happened and went right into the arms of the next guy who opened his legs for you."

Naruto threw the covers back and stood up from the bed, stalking towards Sasuke with eyes hard. Sasuke stood his ground, not flinching as Naruto's hand flew past his face to smack the wall behind him. He leaned down threateningly to be face-to-face with Sasuke.

"You've been doing an awful lot of talking, so how about you shut the hell up for a second and listen," Naruto said lowly. "I did _not_ ignore what happened. You're the one that just up and left without a word. You're the one that refused to answer any of the fifty plus calls from me and even changed your damn phone number to avoid me. I tried to find you so we could talk about this, but you went completely out of your way to make sure you never had to deal with me. You completely erased my existence from your life, so _don't_ try to tell me that I just ignored it and abandoned you, you manipulative son of a bitch," Naruto growled.

When Sasuke remained silent and did nothing but continue to glare fiercely at him, Naruto continued. "And I didn't just fall into the arms of some willing slut. I've been driving myself crazy over what happened with you and the fact that I've lost my best friend. So yes, I had a brief moment of weakness, but nothing happened." At that statement, Sasuke's eyes flicked down to the mark on his neck and his glare intensified and Naruto heard his teeth grind.

"God, Sasuke, nothing fucking happened! There was a little bit of kissing, but that's as far as it went. And you know why? Because I couldn't stop thinking of _you!_" Naruto hissed in frustration as his fists clenched in his attempt to stop himself from grabbing Sasuke and shaking the life out of him.

He saw Sasuke's eyes widen slightly for just a brief second and his tense shoulders relax ever so slightly before Sasuke turned away with a disgusted scoff. "Tch. Don't think about me like that. It's disgusting."

"If it's so disgusting then why do you care so much what I do with other guys?" Naruto pressed.

"I don't! You can do whatever the hell you want, I don't care! " Sasuke insisted. "As long as it's not my own damn bed."

Naruto grit his teeth and pressed closer to Sasuke, wanting nothing more than to shove him against the wall and shut his mouth for him. Whether he wanted to do that by kissing him senseless or socking him in the jaw, he wasn't entirely sure. Sasuke refused to give as they locked eyes, both glaring defiantly. As he encroached even further into Sasuke's personal space, Naruto saw the pupils of Sasuke's eyes start to dilate and his breathing pick up almost imperceptibly.

"As fascinating as all this is," a voice drawled from the doorway, "I think it's time for me to leave." Naruto pushed away from Sasuke guiltily as they both turned to see Gaara leaning against the doorframe in just his pants, the towel around his neck not quite catching all the drips from his wet hair down his bare chest. Gaara ignored the tense silence as he walked across the room to grab his shirt and shrug it on.

"Naruto, call me later. And Uchiha," Gaara said, his eyes narrowing in Sasuke's direction, "quit yanking him around and figure out what the hell it is you want from him." And with that, Gaara turned and left the room, the front door opening and closing a few seconds later.

"_That_ guy?" Sasuke asked. "That's who you got to replace me? Why did you even use me when you already had someone who is obviously willing?"

Naruto looked back at the frustrating dark-haired menace a few feet away from him incredulously before just shaking his head. "You know what Sasuke? I'm tired of arguing with you about this. I don't have to explain myself to you if you have no interest in me."

There was silence for a few moments as Sasuke just looked at Naruto. "You're right," Sasuke finally said with a shrug. "I have no interest in you at all so it's none of my business what you do." He looked around his room again. "You're going to owe me for all of my things you destroyed," he said disinterestedly as he went about packing things into a suitcase from his closet.

Naruto laughed hollowly. "Well it'll be hard for me to do that when you disappear again without telling me anything."

Sasuke huffed before pulling something out of his pocket and slapped it against Naruto's chest. "There. Quit being such a baby."

Naruto caught the small note before it fell. It was a phone number, he noticed as he examined it. His eyebrows scrunched and his mouth opened but the words weren't coming so he shut it and continued to stare at the slip of paper in consternation, reeling from the abrupt 180 of Sasuke's mood. He watched Sasuke as he continued packing clothes and school necessities, his mouth once again opening and closing wordlessly. "Sasuke, this…" he finally managed.

"Is my phone number," Sasuke finished for him overtly slowly.

"Yes, I got that much," Naruto retorted, annoyed. "But what does this mean? For us, I mean."

Sasuke stopped moving and stared down at his suitcase before sighing in frustration. "I don't know," he said quietly. "Can't we just…go back to how things were before?"

Naruto smiled sadly. "We can at least try, right?"

"Yeah, we can," Sasuke said as he resumed packing.

"So, that means we can start hanging out again, right?" Naruto asked hopefully.

Sasuke shrugged, which Naruto took to mean 'sometimes, but don't push it.' Sasuke finished getting his stuff together and closed up his suitcase before straightening. He looked at Naruto for a moment before grabbing up his suitcase with a simple "Bye," as he headed towards the door.

"I'll see you later?" Naruto said questioningly. When Sasuke nodded slightly, Naruto beamed and waved as he watched Sasuke leave.

Well, things weren't perfect by any means, but Sasuke had actually come to him wanting to repair their friendship. That, in itself, was a miracle. And though he wished there could be something more, he'd take what he could get.

As much as he wanted to go back to how things used to be with his best friend, though, he knew it'd be difficult. He'd have to hide his infatuation with him until he could make himself get over it. It was especially hard because in the back of his mind lingered that small hope that maybe Sasuke really did feel the same and just wouldn't admit it, but he had to quit reading so much into things. Even today, Sasuke was always pretty nosey about his business, that was his strange way of showing he cared. So it probably didn't mean anything. But that 'probably' that kept popping up was going to drive him crazy until he could manage to fully convince himself that he had absolutely no chance.

As he padded towards the bathroom to take a shower, he ran a hand through his messy hair with a sigh of frustration. That stubborn man would surely be the death of him.

* * *

><p>This didn't really go the way I'd originally wanted it to. Not sure if it's a good thing or bad thing yet. Also not my best work, but I wanted to get something out before finals start and I'll be completely swamped. Thanks for reading!<p> 


	11. The Failed Foresight

Well, you guys have my extreme love of procrastinating to thank for most of this chapter while I'm supposed to be studying for finals haha. And for some reason, I felt the need to go into great detail about really mundane things -_- I tried to edit myself a bit, but some of it I just couldn't get rid of. Oh well. This is an extra long chapter, so you can be grateful for that much at least! Unfortunately, it's kind of a transition chapter. But I'm pretty sure that in the next chapter, there's going to be some good Naruto/Sasuke interaction

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><p>His heart was pounding and his palms were sweating. He gulped noisily before squeezing his eyes shut and smacking himself lightly in the face. "Come on, Naruto, get a hold of yourself man!" he muttered to himself. This was ridiculous! All he was doing was calling his best friend, something he'd done more times than he could possibly count.<p>

He started pacing again, something he'd been doing for the past hour while debating with himself whether it was a good idea or not. It had been four days since Sasuke had returned and it was Sunday afternoon. That should be a good time to call, right? But what if it was too soon? What if Sasuke didn't want to hear from him on his day off? What if…dammit, what if he quit acting like a damn junior high girl?

With that thought, Naruto slid his finger across the screen and unlocked his phone, stabbing Sasuke's name in his favorite contacts list before he could continue angsting about it. His pulse thrummed rapidly in his throat and he could barely hear the ringing over the pounding in his head.

After four rings, Sasuke picked up. "Hello?" he groused, obviously not appreciating being interrupted from whatever he'd been doing.

"Ahh, heh, is this a bad time?" Naruto asked, reflexively scratching the back of his head with his free hand.

There was a pause before Sasuke sighed and replied, "No, not particularly."

"Ummm, okay…" Naruto said awkwardly when it became apparent that Sasuke was going to say nothing else. "Well, anyway, I was just, eh, wondering if we could maybe hang out tomorrow?"

There was another long hesitation before Sasuke let out a clipped, "Naruto, I don't-"

Naruto quickly interjected, finding himself reaching out and waving his hand spastically to cut him off as if Sasuke was really there. "Don't worry, nothing big! I was just hoping we could grab a quick lunch or something on campus since I know we both have an hour lunch break between classes tomorrow."

Sasuke heaved a sigh again. "Yeah, I guess," he said reluctantly, as if he'd run out of valid reasons to continue to avoid his friend.

The elation that Naruto felt at Sasuke's agreement was so huge that he felt like whooping and hollering and dancing around the room. He settled for biting his lip, squeezing his eyes shut tight, and bouncing up and down silently while repeating "Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!" in his head.

When silence reigned from Naruto's end (a very rare occurrence), Sasuke felt obligated to drawl, "Oi, moron, you there? I thought this was what you wanted."

"Oh!" Naruto exclaimed, realizing that he hadn't responded vocally. "Yes! Yeah, I definitely want to have lunch with you tomorrow!"

He could practically hear Sasuke rolling his eyes on the other end. "Like OMG, I can't like, believe it," Sasuke said flatly.

Naruto burst out laughing in a way he hadn't done in weeks as he collapsed to the couch, throwing an arm over his eyes. As he got himself under control a few minutes later, he managed to speak in between bouts of remaining giggles. "Okay, sorry, I'll try to keep the schoolgirl squealing to a minimum. God knows, you get enough of it already."

"Tch. Don't remind me," he said dryly. "Although, not quite as much lately," Sasuke said smugly.

Naruto found himself cocking his head to the side in confusion as he absently fiddled with a loose string on his t-shirt. "Eh? How come? Did you just quit showering or something?" he asked with a cheeky grin.

"No, you idiot. Don't worry about it, you'll find out eventually."

"Ughhh, you and your stupid need to seem all mysterious and shit," Naruto grumbled but didn't push it. "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow? At 11:30 at the deli," Naruto said in closing. He really didn't want to get off the phone yet, but he figured he'd better quit while he was ahead and not push his luck.

"Yeah, fine. And just so you know, this is, by no means, a date," Sasuke said firmly.

Naruto's mouth went dry at the thought. A date with Sasuke? Oh, he wished… But he recovered from his momentary shock quickly and let out an easy laugh. "Yeah, of course not. Why would I want to go on a date with a prickly bastard like you anyway?" he said with a scoff.

"Whatever, bye dumbass," Sasuke said before hanging up abruptly.

"Yeah, great talking to you, too man," Naruto said in a sickly sweet voice to the dead line, shaking his head and making a face. Stupid Sasuke, he never ended a phone conversation properly. Oh well, at least he was luckily enough to get a bye in warning this time; usually Sasuke just decided the conversation was over whenever necessary information had been exchanged and just hung up without any farewell at all.

All in all, however, that had gone extremely well, even if it was only a 7-minute conversation. Definitely better than Naruto had ever expected. Not only had Sasuke agreed to go out to lunch with him the next day, but he'd even cracked a joke and bantered with him. He couldn't get the cheek-splitting grin to leave his face even if his life depended on it.

He stretched out on his back on the couch, holding his arms outstretched in front of him as he brought his phone back in to his line of sight, checking the time. 2:43. Too early to go to sleep so that tomorrow would get here faster. He stopped as that thought passed through his mind and smacked himself in the forehead. Seriously! What was wrong with him? Sure, he had a bit of a crush, but did that mean he had to turn into a complete _girl_? Ugh. His phone chose that moment to drop from his limp hand still hanging above him and drop heavily onto his face. Naruto hissed and sat up. "Fuuuuuck," he cursed as he held his smarting eye socket.

Now he felt like a total idiot in addition to feeling like a tweenage girl. Again. He stood suddenly and announced to the empty room, "You know what? I'm going to go do something manly!" He puffed out his chest and threw the TV a charming smile and a wink.

He grabbed his phone and was calling Sasuke to tell him they were going to go to the rec and work out and be manly men, but caught himself in time and ended the call before it could connect. That's right, he was still on friend probation and he was lucky to get lunch tomorrow, so he didn't want to push it. He sighed heavily. "Well, guess I'll have to go pump some iron all by my lonesome then," he griped as he went to his room to put on some gym clothes.

He found himself oddly eager to work out. It was probably because in all his moping over the past few weeks, he hadn't found the motivation to get up and be active very often. He put on a pair of basketball shorts and a close fitting tee before snatching his iPod and browsing all his playlists as he absently stuffed his phone, wallet, keys, and a shirt and pair of sweatpants into his Nike athletic bag. He shoved the earbuds into his ear and shimmied his way into the kitchen, where he grabbed a protein bar and unwrapped it hastily. He had stuffed one end of the bar into his mouth, gripping it lightly with his teeth, his bag on one shoulder and his other arm reaching awkwardly behind him to swing through the other strap when he paused. Was it worth all the effort to grab a sweatshirt and put it on or should he just continue on his merry way? It had been rather chilly lately, but…nah. He'd be fine. He planned on jogging his way to campus anyway, so that'd get his blood pumping.

He locked the door behind him and did a few dance steps down the hall, throwing the elderly lady that had just gotten off the elevator a roguish grin as he tipped an imaginary hat in her direction. She smiled and waved as he weaved away from the elevator doors and opted for the stairs instead. He had a ridiculous amount of energy that he had to do _something_ with.

As he left the modest apartment building, Naruto finally settled on a playlist and placed his iPod in the carrier strapped to his bicep. He started with a moderate jog down the street, needing to warm up his muscles and not tire himself out for the four and a half mile jog to campus.

As he fell into his rhythm, his mind began to wander. First, he thought about the paper he had yet to write for a psychology class he was taking. After he spent a whole thirty seconds on that, he moved on to thinking about how nice it would be if he had Kiba there. He hadn't realized until after his falling out with Sasuke that he didn't really have any other close friends at university. He'd simply never needed them because he and Sasuke had always been together. Sure, he still had Sakura and Ino, but he couldn't do things like this with them. If he'd called them, they would have just wanted to take him out for shopping therapy most likely. Yeah, like _that_ would help him with him masculinity problem, he thought with a snort.

Of course, this line of thinking led to what he'd been half-heartedly trying to avoid: Sasuke. If he hadn't been trying to keep his breathing steady with his running, he would have let out yet another heavy sigh. Sasuke, Sasuke, Sasuke. What was he going to do about that boy? Well, more like, what was he going to do about himself? Sasuke was actually acting oddly normal about everything. Then again, that was Sasuke's way of dealing with problems generally: if I don't like, I'm just going to pretend it doesn't exist. It's exactly what he'd done with his fangirls, any grade less than perfect, any disagreement where he was even close to being wrong, and, to some extent, his brother.

As much as Naruto wanted to play along and pretend that everything was back to normal, however, he knew he just wouldn't quite be able to do it. Naruto was exactly the opposite; he didn't run from his problems but rather ran _into_ them head-on. It bugged the hell out of him that he had to pretend that nothing happened without talking about it, for several reasons. One of the main reasons was that, based on comments that Sasuke had made, he was pretty sure that Sasuke may not remember everything that happened. Although, that was rather hard to tell since Sasuke always tended to act like he could do no wrong, so of course it would still be Naruto's fault anyway.

Bahhh! Why was Sasuke so damn complicated! And why did he like him so much? He generally liked simple things, things that he didn't have to think too hard about it. Sasuke was about the farthest damn thing from simple that he could get without being a quantum mechanics problem. But Naruto didn't just like him, not just like a friend. While he tried to stop it and felt extremely guilty afterwards, he'd often accidentally fantasize about his best friend. His dreams would be filled with flashbacks of Sasuke. When he jacked off, he would try to think about or look at other people, like Olivia Wilde or Brad Pitt, but those visions were always interrupted.

Flashes of obsidian eyes glaring up at him heatedly, of a lithe body stretched taut against the wall, of a glimpse of teeth as that mouth fell open in a soundless cry, of a head of dark hair thrown back in ecstasy, of an angry red mark on a pale, slender neck. Then it wouldn't be just flashes of images. He'd hear the way his breath hitched, the way he panted in desperation, the way he gasped and moaned and whimpered. And as if that wasn't enough already, he'd be hit with how the hot tongue in his mouth had felt, how those long fingers had fisted in his hair while slender hips had rubbed sensually against his, how those very hips had felt in his hands as he lost himself in the ecstasy of that long, hot erection against his own, its heat searing through their layers of clothing. He even remembered how Sasuke had tasted and smelled: a mixture of alcohol, light sweat, power, sex, and just…_Sasuke_. Each flash of remembered sensation would always cause a sharp spear of heat to shoot through his entire body, making his stomach clench, his toes curl, and his cock twitch. By that point, he'd be unable to think of anything else, and the end would come horrifically fast.

So yeah, his feelings for Sasuke went well beyond friendly… But it definitely wasn't just lust. He still wasn't completely convinced that it was _love_, but he was at least considering it now. If he didn't want to be just friends with Sasuke, what did he want from him? That was probably something he should figure out.

He shook his head roughly after the thought, causing himself to swerve slightly and almost run into a mailbox. "Sorry!" he yelled behind him, although why he'd been apologizing to an inanimate object, he hadn't a clue. Habit, he guessed. Anyway, he did _not_ have to figure out what he wanted from Sasuke because that would just make it even harder to get over…whatever this was. He told Sasuke that he would try to go back to normal again, and that's exactly what he'd do, he thought resolutely.

He slowed down to a walk as he approached the part of campus where the rec was located. As he walked up the stairs, he saw a figure with a head of strawberry blonde hair about to pass him. "Sakura?" he asked.

She finally looked up and saw him. "Oh, Naruto!" she greeted.

"Hey!" Naruto exclaimed with a grin, wrapping his arms around her in a giant bear hug before lifting her off the ground and spinning her around as she squealed.

"Put me down, you brute!" she shrieked as she laughed and beat harmlessly at his back.

Naruto chuckled and did as he was asked. His eyebrows lifted in question when he saw that she had cocked her head to the side and was looking at him strangely. "Umm, something on my face?" he asked as he scratched at his cheek.

"No, sorry," Sakura said with a giggle. "It's just, you look like you're feeling much better. Actually, you're practically…glowing. What the hell happened? Or should I say who? You're not in love, are you? How come I've never met her? Or him?" she demanded.

Naruto threw his head back and laughed. "Calm down Sakura! Now, yes, I am feeling much better. And I'm not in love, so don't worry, I'm not hiding a secret lover from you. I do, however, have lunch plans with our favorite Ice Queen tomorrow though!" he crowed proudly.

"Ah," she said wryly. "Should have known it was Sasuke. Why don't you guys just give us all a break and break this tension and just go elope. You guys are pretty much a married couple already."

"Heh," Naruto huffed good naturedly, scratching the back of his head. "Yeah, then I guess you guys are our kids, worried 'cause Mommy and Daddy have been fighting."

Sakura shook her head but couldn't hold the grin off her face. "I really am glad that you guys have made up though," she said with a soft smile. "I know this has been really tough for the both of you."

"Ehh, well, I wouldn't say we've made up exactly. He hasn't moved back or anything, and I believe I've been put on friend probation." When Sakura continued to stare at him in confusion, he elaborated. "Well, I think he's not quite sure if he wants to be friends with me again, so we're doing like a trial period to see how it goes? I don't know, I just know I'm not pushing my luck, I already kinda had to wheedle even lunch out of him."

Sakura was quiet before he finally asked, "No chance of you telling me what you did, is there?"

"Hey, hey now. It wasn't all me, you know. I'm just the one that has the most to lose, I guess, so I have to be the one to grovel and beg," he said sardonically. "That, and Sasuke would never admit to having any part in it."

Sakura tilted her head back and forth mildly. "Yeah, you're probably right. I don't know if you have any more to lose than Sasuke though. In fact, I would almost say he has more to lose."

Naruto stared dumbly at her, his blank expression begging her to explain. She rolled her eyes. "You're really outgoing and personable, Naruto. Even when people hate you, they still somehow love you at the same time. You could replace Sasuke in a heartbeat."

"Hey!" Naruto interrupted. "That's not true at all, Sakura. You don't just _replace_ friends," he said angrily.

"Oh my gosh Naruto, chill out, I know you're not like that! I'm just saying, theoretically. You could easily make friends with anyone you choose. Sasuke doesn't have that ability. You're his only true friend, you know."

Naruto scoffed. "What are you talking about Sakura? Sasuke's gorgeous and witty and smart. Who wouldn't want to be friends with him?"

"You forget he's also very acerbic, rude, and, in your words, 'a total dick,'" she said dryly. "He doesn't usually let people see the side of him you get to see Naruto, I don't think you realize that."

Naruto was quiet as he thought about that. As the silence continued, Sakura took a deep breath and finally spoke again. "He was miserable the past few weeks, too," she said softly as she fiddled with the zipper of the gym bag she was carrying.

Naruto sucked in a breath quickly, the cool air hitting his teeth and making them ache momentarily. He ignored it. "Sakura, don't," he warned quietly. It was pathetic that that one statement was trying to fuel his hope that Sasuke really did miss him.

Sakura looked up at him and glared. "Why? It's not like _he'll_ ever tell you that he cares," she said heatedly.

"It wasn't because he missed me or something Sakura," he said angrily. "He was miserable because I ruined him!"

"...What?" she asked hesitantly. When Naruto just turned to the side, she reached out to touch his cheek and pull his face back towards her. "Naruto, what are you talking about? You're kind of scaring me," she admitted.

Naruto hissed in frustration and jerked his face back out of her hands. "Tch. Nothing. I didn't do anything wrong, it's just what he thinks."

"But, why would he think you…ruined him?" Sakura asked concernedly.

"Sakura, _please_," he begged, his face pained. "I can't talk to you about this. I've already caused enough damage."

"It's not like I'm going to tell anyone," she assured him.

Naruto shook his head. "That's not it. Just…not now," he said quietly.

Sakura continued to stare at him for a few more moments before nodding. "Okay. Later then," she agreed.

Naruto mentally groaned. Now she was going to hold him to this like he'd given her a blood oath. Whatever, he'd figure out how to avoid it or weasel his way out of it later. All that mattered was that he'd averted disaster at the moment. He gave her a small grin. "Thanks."

She smiled back. "No problem. Glad to see you up and about, by the way," she said conversationally. "You were starting get fat and waste away," she said grabbing at his midsection.

Naruto hopped away from her pinching fingers and pouted. "Aww, come on Sakura, you know I'm all," he flexed dramatically, "**man muscle**," he said in a cheesy deep voice.

She laughed and slapped his arm. "Oh please, you wish."

"What were you doing here, anyway?" he asked suddenly, realizing that it was kind of strange to see her here. "Were you bench pressing 300 pounds?" he teased.

"No, you dumbass, I went to a yoga class," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"Ooo, sexy," he whispered huskily with a waggle of his eyebrows.

Sakura threw her hand over his face. "Gah! Don't do that, Naruto, it's creepy!"

Naruto laughed. He was opening his mouth to say something else when somebody came out of the rec, the two needing to separate since they'd been accidentally blocking the doorway.

"Well, I'd better head inside and get to work on this beautiful physique," Naruto boasted, flexing his arm and kissing the bulge of his bicep.

"Gawd, you're such a loser. Alright, well I'll see you later."

As Naruto was turning to go inside, Sakura called back to him. "Oh, and Naruto?" He looked back at her to show she had his attention. "You _will_ talk to me about that stuff later," she said, waving daintily as she turned to walk to her car.

Naruto grimaced and walked into the rec, wishing he'd pretended he hadn't heard her…

…

After an hour and a half of listening to head banging metal music, not thinking about anything, pushing his muscles harder than he had in a long time, and flexing and posing a bit more than necessary when he felt the girls' eyes on him, Naruto left for the locker room. He got a quick shower before slipping into the sweat pants and spare t-shirt that he'd brought with him. He crammed his work out clothes into his bag and wrinkled his nose at the smell. Whew, he hoped he remembered to take those clothes out of there and wash them…

As he walked out the automatic doors at the front of the rec, Naruto shivered at the cold blast of air that rushed to meet him. "Gah!" he yelped, his hands coming up to rub at his arms. He really should have grabbed that sweatshirt. But then he would have had to take his bag off his back, put his protein bar down, and take his headphones out of his ears before he could even have started to put it on. Way too much work. Eh, he was warm-natured, he'd get used to it quickly and be fine.

Two and a half miles later, Naruto felt stupid. He really needed to work on this 'thinking ahead' business. He should have realized that it would have been evening when he left, which would mean the sun would have set, which would then mean that the temperature would drop several degrees. He also should have realized that he would probably work out hard and wouldn't be in the mood to walk back home. Why didn't he just drive there and run on the track at the rec? He shook his head at himself and shoved his hands deeper into his pockets.

Stupid Sasuke, he thought bitterly. He wasn't sure how exactly it was the other boy's fault, but it made him feel better to blame him anyway.

Finally seeing his apartment building, he started jogging and sprinted up the stairs, shoving his key into the lock and bursting into the apartment. He threw his bag to the side and dove under the covers in his room, shoes and all. Ahhhhh, that felt nice… he thought as he closed his eyes to revel in the fantastic feeling.

His eyes didn't open again until morning.

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><p>Ehh, decided to split the chapter into two, it was getting ridiculous long.<p> 


	12. The Feeding

Soo, I'm thinking about possibly taking requests for oneshots? I've never taken requests before, but if anyone has like a specific prompt, you're more than welcome to send it to me and I'll let you know if I feel like I can do it. I am going to ask that you keep it NaruSasu/SasuNaru though. So yeah, if anyone is interested in that, just let me know in either a review or PM.

Bahh, took me longer to update this than I'd hoped. It took me a bit to put in the filler for the chapter. Sorry everyone!

But on the bright side, WOW! Passed the 200 review mark! I'm truly flattered and I greatly appreciate everyone who has taken the effort to let me know that they enjoy my work. Thank you, you guys are awesome! *huggggs*

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><p>Naruto yawned and stretched as his consciousness came back to him slowly. He blinked groggily, noticing how unusually bright his room was. Wait…he bolted upright in bed, looking frantically for his cell phone and cursing the fact that he didn't have a regular clock in his room. When sweeping his eyes around the room revealed nothing, he threw the covers off and vaulted off the bed.<p>

"Shit, shit, shit," he mumbled, throwing things across his room. When three minutes of frantic searching had revealed nothing, he finally realized that he was still wearing his shoes. That's right, he'd just fallen into bed as soon as he'd walked in last night. He walked out to the living room and spotted his gym bag by the front door. He trotted over to it and ripped it open, his head reeling at the smell of his wet, sweaty clothes. Gross. He ignored it and dug around until he pulled out his cell phone with a triumphant, "Ha!"

This was quickly followed by a dismayed "Gah!" as he noticed the time read 10:16. Great. He'd missed his 8 AM and his other class this morning was about to end as well. And the professor took attendance in one of his classes! He couldn't believe that professors still did that in college; he thought he'd left that behind in high school. Whatever. He had enough time to shower (which he definitely needed) and get ready before heading to campus to meet Sasuke for lunch so he lazily made his way over to the bathroom, lifting up his shirt to scratch at his stomach.

After showering and completing his morning ritual, Naruto found himself in front of the mirror, staring at his reflection. He ruffled his hair and ran a hand through it, watching it fall back into place. Artfully messy, that's what he called his hair. He'd tried to do something, anything with it, but it always ended up looking just like it did now: a messy array of wild golden spikes. Oh well, he was actually quite fond of it. He puffed out his chest, his hands on his hips, as he turned this way in that in the mirror, studying all his angles. Yup, still looked damn sexy, he confirmed mentally with a cheesy wink to the mirror.

"No way Sasuke could resist me!" he announced to the empty room before laughing at the absurdity of that statement. Yeah right! He was still in good spirits, though, as he locked up his apartment and headed towards the university.

...

Naruto found himself increasingly anxious as he got closer to their meeting place. What if Sasuke had decided to bail? What if this whole thing was just a complete and utter disaster? By the time he'd finally reached the door, he vaulted into the small deli, his eyes sweeping anxiously before landing on the dark-haired figure leaning casually against the wall a few feet away. Naruto heaved a mental sigh of relief and bounded over to him with a hearty cry of "Sasuke!" as he went in for a bear hug. Remembering the situation, he pulled back at the last second with an awkward laugh, offering his hand for a handshake instead. "Eh, heh, glad you could make it, you prick."

For some reason, Sasuke found himself irrationally irritated that Naruto had so obviously averted a hug. It wasn't like he'd said the idiot couldn't hug him. In fact, he'd said that he wanted things to go back to normal. Naruto not hugging him was not normal. He still slapped his hand into Naruto's for the lame handshake though, with an annoyed "Tch."

Unsure of what exactly he'd done wrong already and uneasy with the already tense atmosphere, Naruto scratched at the back of his head nervously. "Look, Sasuke, I'm-" he started before Sasuke turned away from him abruptly and headed to the counter. "Come on, let's order some food. I'm starving."

Naruto gave a small smile and followed behind, more than happy to obey and feed his own grumbling stomach.

When Sasuke continued to shoot down every one of Naruto's attempts to start conversation while in line, he finally gave up for the time being, sullenly waiting for their turn to pay in silence.

As they made their way to a table to sit down finally, Sasuke no longer had any excuses to avoid talking to his friend. Naruto knew this and grinned, asking, "So Sauce-cakes, what have you been up to all these lonesome weeks without your favorite person in the world?"

"You know, I might have actually answered that question if you hadn't called me that appalling name," Sasuke said with a glare.

Naruto snorted. "Yeah right. You never had any intention of telling me anything and you know it."

Sasuke smirked. "Hn. Guess you're smarter than you look. Sometimes."

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Right, I'm an idiot, that's soooo original," he said dryly. "Anyway, can you at least tell me where you've been staying? I was originally thinking you were probably staying with Itachi, but then I remembered he lives kinda far from here and you really can't stand him anyway."

"Why do you even care?" Sasuke asked, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

Naruto shrugged nonchalantly. "No reason, just curious. I'm not going to come stalk you or anything if that's what you're wondering."

"I've been staying with a friend," Sasuke said shortly.

"A friend, eh? I didn't know you had any friends other than me," Naruto said cheekily, mouth full of food.

Sasuke finished chewing his own food before he answered. "Gross. Chew your food before you speak. And 'friend' might be a rather loose term. Really we just tolerate each other and don't bother one another and I help him out with the rent so it's beneficial for both of us."

"Wow, sounds like you guys really care for each other," Naruto said flatly. Sasuke ignored him.

Getting the hint that it was time for a new conversation topic, Naruto decided to take the easy route. "Sooo, excited for Christmas?"

Sasuke gave him a deadpan look before shaking his head and continuing to eat. "I'm atheist, you moron. Why should I be excited?"

Naruto let loose a dramatic gasp. "Whaaaat? Atheist? No way! What about all those unanswered questions in life? Like why people die-"

"It's natural. If everyone lived forever, there would be no circle of life. And the world would be way too damn crowded."

-or why toilet water flows clockwise in the north and counterclockwise in the south-"

"Coriolis effect."

"-or why the sky is blue and the grass is green-"

"The blue sky is due to the way the light scatters on the gas molecules in the atmosphere and the grass is green because of the chlorophyll it uses to complete photosynthesis."

"…or why Sasuke Uchiha is such a dick and has to take all the fun and wonder out of everything in the world," Naruto finally finished sulkily. "I bet you steal candy from babies," he muttered when Sasuke didn't reply to his last statement.

Sasuke shrugged with a smirk, finishing up his sandwich and proceeding to his cup of soup.

After a few more minutes of companionable silence and trivial conversation topics (such as modern warfare 3 status: they'd both completed the campaign and Naruto was trying to wheedle Sasuke into coming over sometime to play with him), Naruto took a deep breath and decided to finally take the plunge.

"Sasuke, about what happened before…"Naruto started. He saw Sasuke freeze and stiffen, his right hand clenching his spoon tightly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sasuke said tightly as he resumed sipping at his soup.

If Naruto had been less aware of his surroundings, he would have banged his fist on the table in his annoyance. Fortunately, he was sensitive to the situation for once and refrained from doing so and calling unwanted attention to them, choosing instead to lean forward over the table to murmur angrily, "Cut the bullshit, Sasuke."

"This is neither the time nor the place," Sasuke hissed, his eyes narrowed.

"Okay," Naruto conceded neutrally, leaning back in his chair again. "So when and where is the time and place for this conversation," he asked calmly, his arms crossed as he stared determinedly at his friend.

"Can we talk about this later?" Sasuke grit out, dropping his spoon into his cup of soup with a small splash.

"Yes, I'm asking you when," Naruto pressed.

Sasuke brought a hand up to rub his temple. Why was Naruto so persistent about this? Why couldn't he just leave well enough alone? Why couldn't things just go back to how they used to be? he thought wearily. He just wanted his simple-minded best friend back, not all this headache. "I don't know," he hedged.

"If you just give me an answer, I'll let it drop for now and we can go back to enjoying our time together just like old times," Naruto assured him. "But!" he continued as Sasuke was about to retort. "You have to actually stand by your answer and at least attempt to talk to me about this at the time you say."

Sasuke glowered, knowing Naruto would for sure make him do this. If he tried to get out of it in the future, he wouldn't put it past Naruto to start shouting about it in a completely public place, which was completely unacceptable. God, he'd spent so long trying not to think about this and now Naruto wanted him to dredge all this back up and start analyzing it again? That wasn't fair. And he honestly didn't know if he could handle it. "I don't know if I can," Sasuke admitted grudgingly.

Naruto's expression softened. "Hey man, I just want to set everything straight so this isn't haunting us for the rest of our lives," he said gently, reaching out to pat Sasuke's arm comfortingly. His hand froze about three inches from contact with Sasuke's skin before retreating hastily. "Sorry," he muttered.

Sasuke felt a balloon of aggravation well up in his throat, putting hot pressure behind his eyes as he glared viciously. "Would you quit fucking doing that?" Sasuke snarled.

Naruto's eyes widened at the sudden hostility before they hardened, his body stiffening as his hands fisted in his lap under the table. "Sorry I disgust you so much. I'll make sure I don't get my gay germs on you," Naruto said coldly.

When Sasuke just continued to scowl at him silently, Naruto started pushing his chair away from the table. "You know what Sasuke, you were right: this was a bad idea. I'll just leave you alone from now on."

Sasuke's hand shot out and grabbed a tan wrist. "Stop," he said, frustrated, not quite knowing what he was doing. "Just…stop."

"What the hell is your problem?" Naruto asked heatedly, doing his best to keep his voice low.

"I never said this was a bad idea," Sasuke mumbled, glaring down at the table as he continued to grip Naruto's wrist tightly.

"Well, you made it quite clear that you regret coming here and talking to me again. You didn't have to say it Sasuke, actions speak much louder than words. I can't even touch you without you freaking out on me." He lifted his left arm, Sasuke's hand still attached to it. "But apparently you're allowed to touch me. Good to know."

Sasuke retracted his hand as if it had burned, not having realized that he was still holding onto his friend. He ignored the slight tint he knew was on his cheeks as he lashed out. "That's not what I meant, and you know it, dipshit."

"Oh, I know, do I?" Naruto asked condescendingly. "No I don't Sasuke! I don't have a fucking clue! I don't know what I'm allowed and not allowed to do! You're giving me so many damn mixed signals and I don't know what they really mean," Naruto said in frustration, running his hand through his hair agitatedly.

"_You're_ the one that doesn't want to touch _me_, you asshole!" Sasuke finally burst out.

Naruto blinked at him in surprise. "Come again?" he said, his brow wrinkled in confusion.

Sasuke just glowered sullenly, desperately trying to ignore the fact that he was dangerously close to pouting.

"Sasuke, seriously. I do _not_ understand."

Sasuke noticed he was fiddling anxiously with his napkin and scowled at his hands before releasing it. "I said I wanted things to go back to normal," he said quietly, "yet you act like touching me is the worst thing you could do. I don't like it."

"So, you're saying you _want_ me to touch you?" Naruto asked in consternation.

Sasuke's cheeks flushed brilliantly. "Do you have to say it like that?" he muttered angrily.

"Sorry man," Naruto said with a wry grin, breaking the tension. "I'm just trying to figure out the contradicting enigma that is Sasuke Uchiha," he said dramatically.

"I am thoroughly impressed," Sasuke said mildly.

"By…?" Naruto asked leadingly.

"By the fact that your idiotic brain could remember such big words," he said dryly with a condescending smirk.

Naruto reached across the table and gently shoved the side of Sasuke's head. "Shut up, you bastard," he growled, even though he was still grinning.

After a long moment of content silence between the two, Naruto, of course, had to break it again. "Soooo…we're cool?" Naruto asked.

"Yeah, dumbass," Sasuke said.

"As long as I keep touching you, right?" Naruto joked, grabbing hold of Sasuke's hand.

Sasuke yanked his hand back with a glare. "Just forget that whole conversation ever happened," he said warningly.

"Done and done. If!" Naruto interjected, holding up a finger. "If you tell me when we can talk about our…issues."

"Tch. Fine. This weekend. I'll come over sometime. If you're not there, that's your problem."

"Whaaa? So you're basically saying I have to wait around all weekend at the apartment, not knowing when you'll show up? That's such a waste of a weekend!" Naruto lamented.

"Well, it depends on how badly you want to have this conversation," Sasuke said smugly, crossing his arms. "Take it or leave it."

"You're such an _asshole_!" Naruto grumbled with a glare. "Fine. You're on. This _is_ happening, I don't care how long I have to wait."

"Uh huh, we'll see," Sasuke said unbelievingly, knowing that Naruto would go stir-crazy if he tried to stay inside all weekend.

Naruto rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I gotta take a leak," he announced, shoving away from the table.

"Thanks for sharing," Sasuke said disinterestedly, waving with one hand while resting his head against the other, elbow on the table.

Just as the door to the men's room closed behind his friend (not that he'd been watching him or anything), he noticed there was someone next to him, calling his name probably for the third or fourth time. Perfect timing.

"Oh, hey," Sasuke said, just barely managing to keep the annoyance out of his voice. He mentally sighed. He was starting to think this wasn't as good an idea as he'd first thought. It wasn't like he had anything to prove to anyone.

"Hey!" the girl next to him said brightly, cocking her head slightly to the side.

Oh well, he'd already started, might as well finish. Besides, this could prove to be quite interesting, he thought with a smirk.

Naruto waltzed out of the restroom with a contented sigh. He paused in his walk back to their table, however, when he noticed that Sasuke wasn't alone at the table. There was a girl there. But it wasn't just the fact that she was there that had shocked him. She was in his lap. There was a girl. In Sasuke's lap. What. The. Fuck. Sasuke 'no physical contact, especially in public' Uchiha had some chick sitting in his damn lap in the middle of a restaurant. She must have sat there against his will and Sasuke just didn't want to hurt a girl by stabbing her in the throat and demanding she get her skanky ass off him. Any minute now, he'd 'gently' shove her off him, Naruto thought with conviction as he continued walking. He'd only gotten two more steps when suddenly she was kissing him. And Sasuke was letting her!

Naruto froze again, his eyes wide. His heart was pounding, his blood pulsing loudly in his ears. He was shocked and slightly angry, but he was also hurt. It felt like his heart was literally breaking. After a very long ten seconds of staring, he final noticed that Sasuke was looking at him smugly over the girl's shoulder, a small smirk evident in his gaze. Naruto shook himself mentally and managed a weak smile as he continued to walk towards them. He saw Sasuke's brow pucker slightly in response. He didn't have the heart to think about why.

"Hey Sasuke," Naruto said, his voice a ghost of his usual rambunctious rumble though he tried his hardest to act like this wasn't tearing him up inside to watch. "Who's your friend?" he asked sociably.

"Hn. This is my girlfriend, Karin," Sasuke said, his eyes watching Naruto intently.

Naruto felt his own eyes nearly burst out of his head again. Girlfriend?

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><p>Dun, dun, dun! What now? Bahh and I bet some of yall were thinking things were starting to go smoothly for them now. So did I at first, but things change! Next chapter is quite interesting though. Got all the ideas already, I just need to put them into words. We'll see how long that takes me. Sorry this is shorter than I'd meant for it to be by the way. And Karin. Bleh.<p> 


	13. The Fascinating Finding

AKA The long lost Sasuke chapter

Wow! I had so many people upset about the end of the last chapter! Pfft, like I wasn't expecting that. Who am I kidding? I don't like bashing characters, so Karin's not gonna be a total bitch, I don't care what anyone says. She's really kinda mellow, but hey they're in grad school in college, they're all a bit more mature than their teenage selves, right? Oh well, that's how I justify it at least :p But don't worry, the boys are working on it!

Sooo who's ready to find out what the eff Sasuke has been doing since he disappeared off the face of the earth and what's going on in that boy's head? You? Then this chapter is for you! You get that plus an extra Enjoy!

Warning: Some minor het action. It's kind of important so get over it.  
>Also, haven't read over this chapter after writing it. I'll fix it later if I need to.<p>

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><p>The past three weeks for Sasuke had been…strange. He told himself that with all that had happened, it really shouldn't have surprised him how he'd reacted to Naruto's reaction to the whole girlfriend thing. Yet here he still was, surprised and irritated, not that he'd ever show it.<p>

He'd expected the blatant shock on his friend's face as he'd watched him across the room. What he hadn't expected was the brief look of pain and absolute despair that had flashed across his face for less than a second before he put on his 'happy mask'. What he _really_ hadn't expected was the feeling of the bottom of his gut dropping and his chest twinging, right where his heart was, when he'd seen that look. He'd nearly had the urge to run over and tell him that it had all been a joke, a cruel joke, but of course he refrained from doing so.

Why should he feel…guilty? Was that what this feeling was? Guilt? Whatever it was, he didn't like it and he didn't understand why he felt that way to begin with, hence the extreme irritation. It is a rare day indeed that an Uchiha does not understand something and, in these rare cases, all hell breaks loose.

In any case, Sasuke had nothing to apologize for, so he'd stayed put right where he was and managed to carry through with the introductions even as his thoughts were running every which way. He allowed Naruto to excuse himself with some bullshit excuse after making a polite amount of small talk with Karin, waving him off distractedly.

He listened with half an ear as Karin continued to chatter at him. Luckily, she didn't seem to need more than a simple nod of the head or noncommittal hum every once in a while to keep her thinking that he was listening. Apparently it was occasionally beneficial that he wasn't much of a talker.

They walked out of the deli, he allowing her to take his hand. They simply walked around campus for a while, enjoying the uncharacteristically warm weather for the time of year. He didn't realize that she had been silent for several minutes until she touched his shoulder gently.

"You seem distracted," she said quietly, guiding them to a stone bench just off the path they'd been walking.

He badly wanted to roll his eyes. No shit. Instead he sat with her and replied, "Just a lot on my mind."

She was quiet again then asked, "Do you want to talk about it?"

He shook his head mutely.

"Okay. It's about that friend of yours, isn't it?"

He eyed her warily before curtly saying, "Yes."

She nodded. "I figured. Did I interrupt something important?" she asked hesitantly. "I'm sorry."

Sasuke shook his head again. "No, no you didn't. It was probably good that you came, actually," he said, finally looking at her.

She smiled. They stayed in companionable silence before Karin asked, "Sasuke? Why did you suddenly decide to go out with me?"

He stiffened. "Do you really need a reason?"

She shrugged. "Not really, I suppose. I guess I should just consider myself lucky to get to call you mine for at least this short amount of time," she said, kicking her legs back and forth as she watched her feet stir up little dust clouds. "I know you don't really like me, though."

"I never said that," Sasuke said half-heartedly.

She smiled wryly at him. "Please. I've been chasing after you for years and you never knew I existed until just recently. I'm pretty sure I was just the closest girl you could find at a desperate time," she said in a rare moment of perceptiveness.

Sasuke didn't say anything in response. She was partially right. "You seemed at least semi-intelligent," he finally said.

She laughed lightly. "Ah. I guess I'll take that as a compliment coming from you."

He smirked. "You should."

"Just so you know, this doesn't mean that we're breaking up," she informed him nonchalantly, examining her nails.

He arched in eyebrow in reply. "Oh?" he said dryly.

She nodded once, firmly. "Yes. I'm gonna hang onto you as long as I can, whether it's genuine or not. You obviously need me for something, so I'm going to take advantage of you and your _vulnerability_," she enunciated, leaning in towards him with a waggle of her eyebrows. Sasuke snorted at this and she grinned mischievously. "Besides, who knows? Maybe you'll come around and actually start to like me."

"I wish it were so easy," Sasuke muttered ruefully to himself.

"Hmm?" she questioned, not having heard him clearly.

"Nothing," he said with a small sigh, leaning back on his palms. "I suppose you can stick around," he finally acknowledged.

"Good, because I didn't plan on giving you any choice," she said matter-of-factly.

He found himself almost chuckling, but shook his head instead. "So do I still have to call you my girlfriend?" he asked.

"You can call me whatever you want, baby, but I'm still going to call you my boyfriend until you give me a good reason not to," she told him.

He rolled his eyes. "I doubt I could make you stop if I tried," he mumbled.

She shot him that grin again, all teeth, telling him he was exactly right.

He gave her a light shove. "You're creepy," he said as he stood up from the bench.

He nearly had to laugh once more at the look of shocked outrage on her face. "E-excuse me?" she finally spluttered. "I am an elegant, beautiful, confident woman. Nothing about me is _creepy_."

"I beg to differ," Sasuke replied mockingly.

"Hmph!" She glared reproachfully at him, but he saw her lips wobbling in an effort not to pull upward. "You, Mr. Uchiha, are not a gentleman at all," she said prissily as she stood up and dusted off the back of her pants, her nose in the air.

"But I still loooove you!" she exclaimed, pouncing on him suddenly, wrapping her arms around him and rubbing her face on his shoulder.

Sasuke let out a "Gack!" at the completely unexpected attack before quickly disentangling himself from her. She laughed and danced out of his reach. "See you tomorrow?" she asked.

"Don't count on it, you crazy woman," he muttered darkly.

"Okay, see you then!" she called as if he hadn't said anything, waving as she sauntered away.

Sasuke shook his head again, but found he might not mind seeing her every once in a while after all.

He sat back on the bench, knowing he'd probably get more privacy there than he would where he'd been staying since kids these days never went outside anymore. He leaned back on his palms again, releasing a heavy sigh. The last few weeks really had been long…

…

Despite his initial conviction that he was never going to drink alcohol ever again, he'd found himself doing so, almost desperately, only a few nights after he'd gotten back from Naruto's. His pursuit of denial, which was something he'd been quite familiar with his whole life, was much more driving than that decision three days prior. With the alcohol clouding his mind, he didn't have to think about what had happened and he quit trying to remember every tiny detail. Besides, the cause of his problems wasn't there, so it really wasn't a big deal.

At least that was what he had thought at the time. It went alright at first. He drank, hooked up with girls left and right just to show that he could, punched the one guy that had the nerve to come up and proposition him right in the face – all good. This went on for a few nights in a row. Then, a week and a half after The Incident, he'd hooked up with _her_.

When he'd first seen her, he wasn't quite sure what to think. He thought he could possibly be interested, but it wasn't an immediate attraction. She had a huge smile, more of a grin really, with smile lines around her mouth and eyes showing that she flashed it quite often. She had short blonde hair, but she still looked very feminine, with big blue eyes full of mischief. She didn't do the shy, come hither looks from beneath long lashes like most girls did; instead, she would stare boldly at him every once in a while as she talked to her friends, occasionally throwing him a playful wink. He couldn't help but stare back.

When he noticed her break away from her friends and head towards him, he threw back the rest of his drink, feeling it burn all the way down his throat, warming his belly. She leaned against the bar in front of him, looking at her nails. Finally, she looked up at him. "You know, I've been waiting for you to come over to me for the past hour," she informed him, brow arched high.

"Oh?" he intoned, his own dark eyebrow rising toward his hairline.

"Yeah, so either you're just not interested or you're a wuss. You were always looking back when I looked over and your cheeks would turn the cutest shade of pink when I winked, so I'm guessing it was the latter," she drawled in amusement, her eyes dancing with silent laughter.

Sasuke glowered and tried his best to keep that very same flush from his cheeks once again but failed. Damn fair skin!

She threw back her head and laughed. Not a cute school-girl giggle, but a full-blown laugh. He liked that.

"So Mr. Dark and Mysterious, would you like to join me out there?" she asked, tilting her head towards the writhing mass of people on the small dance floor.

"Not really the dancing type," Sasuke answered with a crooked smirk, managing to shove away the memories that were trying to resurface about the last time he'd done so.

She rolled her eyes. "Of course you're not. Well, the least you can do is buy me a drink since I walked all the way over here just for you," she demanded.

"Yes, my lady," he said sarcastically with a small bow before fluidly turning and tapping on the bar. The bartender finished up with the customer he'd been serving before approaching Sasuke.

"Yes, sir, what can I get for ya?" he asked, wiping the back of his hand across his forehead.

As Sasuke opened his mouth to answer, his female friend beat him to it, ordering for the both of them.

"What if I hadn't wanted that?" he asked, crossing his arms and pretending to act like he was offended.

She shrugged. "Not my problem," she replied with another grin.

Sasuke simply shook his head and waited for the bartender to finish preparing their drinks. As he took a seat on an empty stool, she leaned back against the bar, her elbows propped up on top of it. "So, Brooding Beauty, if you're not up for dancing, what _are _you up for?" she asked, her smile coy and her eyes nearly dancing with mischief.

Wow, he hadn't even had to do any work at all for this one; it just fell right into his lap. Instead of responding verbally, he threw her a slow, sultry smirk as their drinks were set down in front of them.

She chuckled lowly, sipping at hers. "My place or yours?" she asked softly.

"Yours," he replied, knowing there was no guarantee of privacy where he was staying. Also, this way she didn't know where he lived in case she ended up being a stalker like all the others.

She reached out to touch his thigh before slowly sliding that hand down his thigh to grab his hand that had been resting on his knee. She tugged him off his stool, laughing when he stumbled slightly at the unexpected action. "Come on!" she urged, tugging insistently at the hand she held captive.

He drank a bit more of his drink before setting it and several notes of cash on the bar. He had no idea where her drink had disappeared to, but found he didn't care as he let this girl drag him out of the building. He wasn't so much aroused by her as he was intrigued. And she seemed oddly familiar…

As they reached the parking lot, the blonde spun around and walked backwards so she could face him as she said, "Hey, I didn't drive here, so can we take your ride? That'll also make it easier for you to leave, too, when you're ready."

"Okay," he answered indifferently.

"Awesome." She grinned. "So which one is yours, hotshot?"

Sasuke pointed and she danced her way over. "Nice," she said simply when she was standing next to it. Sasuke nodded in agreement and unlocked it.

"Ok, so there are going to be some rules here," she said firmly as she slid into the leather passenger seat.

"I'm listening," Sasuke said warily.

"First and foremost: there will be protection used," she said seriously.

"Well, duh," Sasuke said with a roll of his eyes.

"Good! Next: no names," she continued.

Sasuke nodded. He could work with that.

"Third: this is a onetime deal. Just a 'wham-bam-thank-you-maam' and that's it."

Sasuke had to grin at that.

"And lastly: have fun! I promise I won't tell anyone that you're not always cool and calm and 'super awesome bad boy' if you just let loose and enjoy yourself. You look like you need that," she said, looking him up and down critically.

Sasuke snorted but didn't deny it.

"Sound alright?" she asked, leaning back in her seat comfortably.

Alright? It sounded bloody perfect! It was everything he'd ever wanted in a hook-up. Of course he didn't actually say as much but just said, "I think I can work with that."

She laughed and chattered with him (well, more like she chattered and he occasionally listened and grunted in response) in between directions to her apartment.

When they reached the complex, she led him to her building and up the stairs to her place. After she unlocked the door and let him in, Sasuke barely had time to get even a brief glimpse of the place inside before he was shoved up against the closed door with a hungry mouth on top of his. His eyes widened in shock before he realized what exactly was going on and his eyes slid shut as he began responding. She had him pinned against the door by his shoulders in a surprisingly strong grip, which, for some reason, Sasuke found quite arousing. He found himself briefly imagining her hands larger and her stature taller before he shoved those, and any other, thoughts away in favor of the heat running through his veins.

He let her tug him across her living room to her bedroom, maintaining their lip lock. She slammed the door shut behind him and shoved him in the direction of the bed. "Clothes off," she growled. He hurried to comply, seeing her do the same.

He never was one for touching his partners any more than necessary when he had sex with them, which made some girls quite irritated. That didn't seem to be a problem here though as she took charge, often pinning his arms or hands so that he couldn't touch even if he wanted to. God, this was perfect.

She eventually slithered down his body as he lay on his back, drawing his cock into her mouth. He bit down hard on his lip to keep from gasping. That was fantastic. She had him so enraptured that he hadn't noticed anything strange until there was a finger pressing against the cleft of his ass, dragging down to rest on his entrance. When she started applying more pressure to that finger, he jumped and his eyes flew open, his mind clearing.

"What the _fuck _do you think you're doing?" he hissed.

"Hush," she admonished, lifting her mouth from his cock but not moving her finger. "Rule number 4, remember? It'll feel good, I promise," she whispered before lowering her mouth again and taking him in all the way until he was brushing the back of her throat. He gasped harshly and arched his back slightly, unwittingly pressing against the finger that had been conveniently forgotten.

She managed to fully wiggle her index finger inside of him without much protest from him. Sasuke didn't really know why he was being rather docile and letting her do this to him. Oh yeah, maybe it was the amazing things she was doing with her mouth.

It took a little more work to squeeze a second finger in there, but she managed, slowly and gently. Luckily, she had very skinny fingers. Once that mission had been accomplished, she crooked her fingers just _so_. Sasuke felt a small jolt the first time she did it, but continued to concentrate solely on his lovely blow job. Each successive time after that, however, that jolt got stronger and stronger until it became a blaze of liquid heat flowing through his veins.

She lifted off his cock once again as she observed him writhe on her bed, clamping both hands over his mouth as he tried desperately to contain his moans. Fantastic. She watched with hungry eyes as she continued her fingers' ministrations, watching him come undone as he came with a soundless cry. She crawled back up his body to whisper in his ear, "See? Felt good, didn't it." It wasn't a question.

Sasuke glared up at her, though the effect was lost as he was panting lightly. "Not. A. _Word_ about it," he grit out.

She chuckled but obeyed. "Ready for the real deal?" she whispered instead as she worked him up again.

He nodded and continued to let her move at her pace throughout the rest of the affair. And if he kept his eyes screwed tightly shut the whole night except to catch snatches of blonde hair, blue eyes, and tan skin, that was okay. And if those brief glimpses made him _almost_ think of…someone else? Well, nobody had to know that…

…

Sasuke groaned as he remembered it, moving to lie fully on the stone bench, throwing an arm over his face. That had been the best sex he'd ever had, by far. On his drive home later that night, he'd tried to deny that he'd enjoyed letting someone else have the power and dominance, but he was hard-pressed to argue against it. And that had scared him.

The whole reason he'd started his nightly fling seeking was to feel powerful and in control. He had been neither the night before. Yet he hadn't felt degraded either. She had taken care of him and helped him let loose and that had been…okay. Even so, he wasn't terribly eager for a repeat, so he'd quit going out every night and figured a steady girlfriend (a _regular_ girl, mind you, no fireballs like that one) would be a better choice. At the time, Karin had been trying to talk him up every time he was on campus and he'd actually engaged in conversations with her a few times, so she'd seemed a decent choice. There wasn't anyone who he actually liked, so he just picked the lesser evil he could find.

It hadn't quite worked like he'd thought it would. It hadn't stopped the thoughts from continuing to try to invade his mind. And the half-remembered dreams didn't stop either. Sasuke was good at denial, one of the best, even, but he knew he couldn't keep it all at bay forever. Maybe this talk this weekend would help after all; he could clear the air, tell Naruto it had all been a drunken mistake, and move on.

Tch. Yeah, right. Who was he kidding? Naruto would never let it go so easily. Maybe it really was as bad an idea as he'd originally thought.

Sasuke growled to himself as he forced himself to just stop thinking about all of it. He'd just have to see what happened this weekend when he decided to grace Naruto with his presence. No use agonizing about it until then.

…

The weather had taken a turn for the worse once again, Sasuke noticed late Saturday afternoon. He glared up at the sky as if that would stop the pouring rain. It didn't. At least it still wasn't too cold so it wasn't freezing rain. He shook his head, grabbed an umbrella, and walked briskly to his car.

When he made it to the apartment parking lot, he turned off the car and sat for a while, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. His heart was beating rapidly as he thought about all the terrible ways this confrontation could go. He snorted and shook his head at himself before shoving his way out of the car and striding resolutely to the building.

Sasuke let himself into their apartment. Their apartment. Was it really still theirs? It was pretty much only Naruto's now, unless he'd gotten another roommate to fill in. The thought of that pissed him off.

He shut the front door quietly behind him as he took off his shoes and set down his umbrella, slightly on edge as he looked around, half expecting Naruto to come barreling out of nowhere and tackle him or some other sort of rambunctious greeting. When nothing came, he frowned slightly. Was the moron even there? He meandered through the living room, kitchen, and bathroom, but no Naruto. He checked Naruto's room to see if he was still sleeping. Nope. He even checked his own room, but the idiot wasn't there either. Huh. He really wasn't there.

He knew he should have been relieved since they'd made the deal that he wouldn't have to talk about The Incident if Naruto wasn't there when he came, but he wasn't. He thought he'd find him sprawled in the living room, right inside the front door, ready to confront him at any moment. Maybe Naruto didn't really care as much as he had let on. Sasuke's frown deepened.

He sat down on the edge of his bed for a moment, brooding. He sighed heavily and got up to walk to the kitchen. He grabbed the pad of paper and pen that sat next to the refrigerator. It had originally been put there in one of Naruto's particularly ambitious moods so that they would start making lists for groceries, thus reducing impulse buys and helping them eat better. It had never been used. He smirked softly at the thought as he wrote his note, letting the dumbass know that he'd come by and missed his chance and not to bother him about this again.

Even after he'd finished writing what he'd meant to, he stood there, pen in hand. He was dawdling and he knew it. Why? This was ridiculous. He dropped the pen abruptly, spun on his heel and stuck the note on the fridge before leaving the kitchen, marching determinedly to the front door. He had just slipped one shoe on and was in the process of putting on the other when the front door burst open, narrowly missing smacking him in the head. He froze, his foot raised about a foot in the air as he bent over to pull his shoe on, his right index and middle finger poised in the heel of it.

Naruto strode inside like he was on a mission, sticking his head in every room. Sasuke straightened back up as he watched him. When he reached the kitchen, Sasuke saw him pop in, look around intently, then walk back out before doing a double take and walking backwards back into it. He yanked Sasuke's note off the door of the fridge, reading it quickly before crumpling it in his fist and standing there very quietly. Sasuke heard nothing but the low hum of the refrigerator and the soft tick of the clock in the living room. Then there was a loud bang that made him jump slightly followed by an exclaimed, "Goddammit!"

When he leaned a little to his left, Sasuke could see Naruto standing with the fist that he'd used to crumple his note resting on the flat of the door. Ah, so that had been the big bang. Idiot. What did he think he'd accomplish by punching the refrigerator door? He did have to admit, albeit grudgingly, that he was slightly impressed when Naruto slowly lowered his hand to reveal the dented door beneath it. Well, apparently his worries about whether Naruto had really cared or not were unfounded; he was obviously very upset that he'd missed his chance.

Now Sasuke had a dilemma, though. Did he leave quietly or did he let Naruto know that he hadn't quite left yet? It would be easy to leave, he knew, because Naruto was too distracted by his emotions. When he got that way, he blocked everything else out. So why did he find himself clearing his throat loudly? Right after he did it, he hoped that Naruto hadn't heard him, but that hope was quickly dashed to pieces when Naruto's head snapped up in his direction. His eyes had been narrowed in suspicion, but when he realized who it was, they widened comically.

Naruto quickly covered the steps between the kitchen and the entryway, leaving a few yards between them. He stood and stared quietly, almost as if he couldn't quite believe that Sasuke was really there. Sasuke stared back.

He realized that Naruto had been out in the rain, obviously without an umbrella since he was soaked. His hair was dripping, the blond spikes crazier than usual from where Naruto had presumably shoved a hand through it to keep it out of his face. Sasuke had seen him do it many times. He was wearing only a white undershirt, the left sleeve pushed up his arm to rest on his shoulder. The thin material was nearly transparent as it clung tightly to Naruto's wet form. He could clearly see every defined muscle in his torso, as well as he could see his nipples, pebbled from the cold wetness against them. The basketball shorts he wore were heavy with saturation, falling dangerously low on his lean hips and revealing a wide strip of tan skin between the waistband and where his shirt had ridden up on his stomach. It allowed Sasuke a perfect view of the cut 'V' between Naruto's hips and the wispy trail of blond hair, stained darker from the rain. Realizing what exactly he'd been staring at, Sasuke snapped his eyes up to a safer view, staring instead at Naruto's partially bare left shoulder.

At least he'd thought it would be safer. He found himself oddly fascinated, though, by the intricate shift and flex of Naruto's bicep. He finally realized that the muscles he was admiring were moving because Naruto kept fisting his hands, something he always did when he was struggling for control. What could the problem be? He frowned in thought and finally brought his eyes up to look at Naruto's face.

As soon as he'd looked up, Sasuke heard a low rumble emanate from Naruto's chest before he said, "Sasuke. Don't look at me like that." His voice was an octave lower than normal, and rough, in a way that made Sasuke's breath hitch. He ignored that in favor of his confusion.

"Look at you like what?" he asked, then wondered if that had really been him that had spoken. His voice had almost been as husky as Naruto's had. He suddenly had a sinking feeling that he knew how he'd been looking at him.

Naruto stalked towards him slowly, watching how Sasuke's nostrils flared and his pupils dilated as he got closer and closer until the black nearly consumed the dark iris. Sasuke didn't notice as he took a small step backwards in defense. Naruto finally stopped about a foot away from Sasuke, not touching him.

"Did you come here to tell me that that night meant nothing? That it was just a stupid drunken mistake?" Naruto asked lowly.

"Of course," Sasuke scoffed, his voice coming out solidly despite his pounding heart and the adrenaline rushing through his veins. "What else were you expecting?"

Naruto looked him up and down slowly. "Honestly," he stated, "I had no idea. But now…" he trailed off.

"Now?" Sasuke coaxed irritably.

"Admit it," Naruto said with a lecherous grin. "You at least find me sexy as hell."

"Excuse me?" Sasuke said indignantly. "What the _hell_ gave you that idea?"

"Is that a banana in your pocket or are you just happy to see me," he said dryly.

"Wha-oh, come on, seriously?" Sasuke couldn't believe he'd just pulled that line out. Once he finally realized that Naruto was referring to _him _like that, he realized that he was, indeed, sporting a bit of an erection. How mortifying…

"That's not for you," he blurted out.

"So you say," Naruto said skeptically. "I'm sure you've got all kinds of excuses to offer me, but were you really thinking about anything other than me since you walked into this apartment?"

As much as Sasuke wanted to deny it, he knew he'd thought of absolutely nothing other than the blond in front of him all day. What the hell was his problem?

When Sasuke remained silent, Naruto wrapped an arm around him and pressed his palm into the small of Sasuke's back. "Sasuke," he growled roughly. Sasuke ignored the spark that flew through his blood. "You showed textbook signs of arousal when you saw me."

"What would you know about textbooks?" Sasuke countered.

Naruto ignored him. "I watched you look at me. I saw how your eyes became half-lidded, how your mouth relaxed and fell open slightly, how your breathing picked up. When I came towards you, you were near panting and your eyes were so dilated, I'm surprised you could see anything at all," he said as he slowly pulled Sasuke closer.

"You're lying," Sasuke said defiantly.

"I'm not and you know it," Naruto said quietly. He was right. For once. "It's not a bad thing, Sasuke. There's nothing wrong with it. If it helps any, I find you unbearably sexy too."

"How on earth would that be helpful, you idiot," he mumbled sulkily, looking away.

Naruto laughed and rubbed his back soothingly. "There, there, darling, don't pout so," he said dramatically.

He briefly saw Sasuke's nostrils flare for an entirely different reason before he spun around in Naruto's grip, grabbing the hand that had been on him and twisting it behind Naruto's back as he shoved him face first against the wall. "Don't treat me like a fucking girl," he hissed.

"Yeah, yeah," Naruto said nonchalantly with a roll of his eyes. Sasuke pulled his arm back further, bending back his pinky at the same time. Naruto yelped. "Okay, okay, I get it! Uncle!" he cried.

Sasuke held him there for a few seconds longer for good measure before letting him go. Naruto sighed in relief, cradling his poor, abused arm. "That really hurt, you jackass," Naruto grumbled.

Sasuke shrugged, a somewhat triumphant smirk on his face.

Naruto held out his hurt pinky. "Kiss it," he whined, giving Sasuke a pathetic look.

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I think you'd definitely be the girl, you brat."

In a flash, Sasuke found himself pinned to the wall (how did this always happen to him?). "I'm no girl," Naruto snarled, pushing his hips roughly into Sasuke's. Yes, Sasuke could indeed tell that Naruto most certainly was not a girl as he felt Naruto's hot, hard cock slide next to his own, which twitched.

"Well neither am I," Sasuke spat angrily.

"I never said you were! I don't know where you got the stupid idea that one of us is _supposed_ to be a girl. We're both big manly men, you happy now?" Naruto said sarcastically.

When Sasuke continued to glower at him, Naruto sighed. "I really like you Sasuke and now that I've seen that you're at least somewhat attracted to me, I'm not gonna give up," he told him, partly as a warning.

"Now, let me show you just how manly we both can be," Naruto growled before smashing his lips against Sasuke's.

* * *

><p>Wow. How lame was that last line… -_- Hopefully I can come up with something better later, I was just ready to finally be done with this chapter. Yayyy! And it looks like the relationship will finally start to get a move on. Not all at once, of course, since we know Sasuke's way too stubborn in his ways for that, but at least it looks like a start!<p>

And sorry about the het part, I tried not to put too much in it. Nothing that wouldn't have been in a yaoi scene if the 'she's were 'he's. But it'll help in the long run. Also sorry that there wasn't much Naruto/Sasuke interaction, but at least you know you'll get some action in the next chapter ;)

Until then! Muah!


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